


A Shelter For the Undead

by starryrosez



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood, Flashbacks, If You Squint - Freeform, Implied Matt/Shiro - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kidnapping, M/M, Past Allura/Lance - Freeform, Past Keith/Lotor (Voltron), Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-06 06:01:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 34,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15188366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryrosez/pseuds/starryrosez
Summary: On the run from his kidnappers, Keith finds shelter with a handsome stranger named Lance. Just when he thinks he’s finally been integrated back to the ordinary human life, his past catches up to him. Only this time, he doesn’t have to face it alone.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the [Keith MIni Bang](https://keithminibang.tumblr.com), and I'm really proud of this fic, it's the first time I've tried something darker than my usual fluff so please enjoy!

_ Everything feels cold. _

It's a beautiful, clear summer night, the type of night where people go out to the local fair and don't come home until dawn. The lights of skyscrapers in the city twinkle like stars.

Keith saw in the news that it's supposed to be the hottest day of the year.

But he's never felt anymore cold. 

-

It's an unreasonable time to be out at night, but that's alright, Keith was counting on it. If somebody sees him walking around the streets with a heavy winter coat in 90-degree weather, they'd be suspicious, and that's the last thing he needs right now.

He takes the usual route, back-ends of streets and dark alleyways to avoid the public eye on his journey to reach his destination.

When he finally gets to the building, he slips inside with the key that had been given to him months ago. It's a sign of trust, but it's also needed in order to avoid being seen. Instead of taking the elevator, Keith slips into the doors that lead to the stairwell and climbs up to the seventh floor. In his hazy mind, he relives a memory.

"You can take the stairs."

"I shouldn't." Keith had replied, "It's too risky. Besides, I don't want to wake anybody up."

"It's fine, the only apartment by the stairs is mine. Nobody takes the stairs, believe me."

Keith goes out into the hallway and turns right, being immediately greeted with apartment number 728. Keith knocks on the door as quietly as possible. The door abruptly opens where he finds a handsome young man standing there. He appears to be the same age as Keith, with glistening tan skin, brown hair and blue irises like the sky. The man has bags under his eyes from lack of sleep, or from waking at this ungodly hour, or even a combination of the two, Keith doesn’t know. They stare blankly at each other for a few seconds, before the man yawns. He looks awake, but Keith knows that not even less than 10 minutes ago, he was sound asleep.

"Ran out of the packets again?" He says it in a sneering way, most likely trying to get a rise out of Keith, but he’s so far out of his mind it flies over his head. The dark-haired man shivers in the hallway. 

"The bank closed before I could get there," Keith answers. The man's malicious demeanor fades now that he's gotten a better look at Keith. He's sure he looks like hell. The last time it was this bad, Keith was pale and cold to the touch, his eyes were bloodshot and he was shaking all over, looking like a corpse that died of hypothermia. The brunette widens the door and wraps an arm around Keith, guiding him into the apartment.

"Come on, let's warm you up," he says as he guides Keith to the bathroom. He settles Keith onto the toilet seat before helping Keith shrug off his coat. Keith's already starting to get delusional again, his mind wavering to an earlier time.

"Here, I bet a nice and hot shower will warm you up," the man had said as he turned on the faucet, a rain of water began to pour out of the shower head. Steam began billowing out, consuming the bathroom. Even with the warm water, Keith's eyes were trained on the guy's shoulder, where his shirt had slightly slid off and revealed that beautiful bare tan skin. There's this beautiful trail of blue across it, glowing and beckoning for him.

Keith's eyes train onto the bare skin of the man's neck, the spot right where his skin disappeared under the fabric of the blue shirt he's wearing. He can already feel himself starting to lose consciousness as he watches the veins of his skin glowing a brighter blue with each passing second. Then snaps back awake when he feels himself being tugged, and immediately realizes that the man is forcing him to stand up. Mustering the last of his energy to prevent himself from blacking out, he complies and is after guided into the shower. The man grabs the hem of his shirt and begins to pull it over his head. Keith's mind returns to the memory.

"Take off your shirt right now," Keith demanded, grabbing the man's shoulder.

"Well, aren't you a bit kinky?" the man had joked a playful glint in his eye as he winked. Keith panted as he grabbed the brunette's shirt.

"Right now," Keith hissed through his teeth. He could feel his entire body aching to feel this man's body against his.

"Shit, okay, okay," the man frantically ripped off his shirt, the fabric clattering onto the ground. Keith grabbed the man by the shoulders and tugged him closer. He buried his face in the man's shoulder, the smell of iron flooding Keith's nostrils.

Suddenly, he feels two hands cupping his face and his eyes meet the blue hues of this man, who has gone to many lengths for Keith, since the night they met. 

"I'm ready," the man says. Keith nods as he buries his face in the crook between the brunette's neck and shoulder, reveling in the sweet scent of citrus, the beach and the hints of sweat that's dotted across his company's bare skin. Under all those scents there's a strong sense of iron, that slowly fills Keith's nostrils. He plants a sweet kiss on the tender skin before sinking his teeth into the flesh. 

The man hisses from the contact but immediately relaxes. Blood flows into Keith's mouth and the smell of iron intensifies. He can feel trickles of blood that he has failed to capture flowing down the man's skin like a river. As Keith sucks the metallic liquid, the man runs a hand through his hair, soothing him. Keith feels his body warm up, and his mind clearing, a strong indicator that he is better. The taste of blood in his mouth is so good, and he wants to continue but he resists and pulls his teeth out from the man's skin. He wipes off the blood dripping off his chin with his hand. He peers at his blood donor, violet eyes searching for those comforting blue ones. The azure irises meet Keith and a small smile adorns the man's face.

"Better?" he cocks his head to the side, wincing at the pain from his wound. On his shoulders, are two puncture holes, surrounded by a pool of blood that flowed down and across his body. Keith nods, feeling all of his strength returning to him and wraps an arm around the man's waist and hoisting his arm around his shoulders. 

"Let's clean up."

After Keith helps him out of the tub, he hoists him onto the counter by the sink. Now that he's feeling better, he feels like the least he can do is help clean up. He sees that everything he needs to clean up is already neatly placed on the counter, ready for use, something he missed in his delusional state. It shouldn't surprise him, ever since the first incident, there's been preparation done ahead of time. Keith cleans the wound with the towel and applies a bandage.

Throughout the process, his company has been silent. His eyes are droopy and he keeps on nodding off. His skin is even beginning to pale. Keith looks at him with concern, "You alright?"

"I'm fine."

" _ Lance, _ " Keith warns, "Do not lie to me."

Lance ashamedly bows his head, "I feel dizzy."

Keith nods as he soothes the bandage over the puncture wound, "You should lie down," Keith wraps an arm around the brunette's shoulders and slides another beneath his legs. He lifts up the man easily, who squawks as he flails his arms, face reddening.

"I can get myself around here just alright!" Lance protests.

"So?" Keith raises an eyebrow, "So can I."

The argument drops right there. Lance allows Keith to rest him on the couch. The brunette rests his head against the arm and peers at Keith with unfocused eyes.

"I'll get you something to eat," Keith says as he turns to the kitchen.

"There's no need!" Lance responds, "Seriously, you don't have to take care of me."

"And you don't have to take care of me, and yet you do," Keith retaliates as he grabs a pack of crackers, "This is the least I can do for you." He returns to the couch and hands the pack to Lance. "Eat."

Lance frailly eats the crackers as if something bad will happen if he ate them too fast. Keith takes a seat on the coffee table in front and watches him in silence. Lance's phone, which has been left abandoned on the coffee table next to him, lights up with a notification. Keith glances at the screen and sees that it's a reminder. He grabs the phone and holds it up to Lance.

"Ask Keith to stay over the night," he reads out loud.

Lance shrugs, shoving another cracker into his mouth, "I figured that 3 am is a bit too late in the night, and too early in the morning for you to head back home."

Keith glances down at the phone before resting it on the table, "Sure." He says it in a blase matter, but his heart excitedly leaps. It's been doing that for a while, and he's not sure why. Keith  _ always _ stays the night when Lance feeds him. He pushes the thought away for the moment, deciding to focus on the present. He's done enough wandering in his delusional state tonight.

"Really?" Lance lights up as he pushes himself up, "You are?" Keith never understands why Lance gets so elated when Keith says yes every time: he  _ always _ says yes. "I already have the spare mattress ready, you can head over there if you're feeling tired."

"Alright," Keith replies as he stands up. He's not tired, in fact, he's far from it but Lance looks ready to pass out. Keith slides his arms around Lance and lifts him up again. He protests again but lets Keith carry him into the bedroom. He tucks his friend into bed and smiles down at the tired man. "Night," he says softly before turning away, starting to head towards the mattress on the ground next to the bed when he suddenly feels a hand grasping his wrist. Keith turns abruptly eyes falling down to Lance's tired face. His eyes have already begun to droop, and he looks up at Keith through half-lidded eyes. His hands trail up Keith's arm until they reach Keith's forehead. The two stare at each other for a few moments, as Lance's hand remains on his forehead before it slides down the side of his face. Keith remains still as Lance smiles.

"You feel warm," Lance says.

Keith cocks his head. "Is that good?"

" _ Definitely _ ," Lance yawns as he buries his head in his pillow, closing his eyes and snuggling into his blanket, "Night Keith."

"Night," Keith mumbles as he crawls into the mattress. He strangely doesn't feel tired at all, but since his only company is going to sleep, he might as well. He closes his eyes and listens to Lance's breathing slowly even, using it as a lullaby for his own slumber.

\---

Outside in the street, a young girl argues with her mother about summer camp, claiming that it's too early. There's a steady stream of traffic, everybody is trying to get to work on time. Cars honk occasionally, in addition to the roaring of that one asshole who always goes down the streets at 90 mph. 

Keith abruptly wakes up with a gasp and sits up, squinting his eyes in the dim lighting of Lance's room. The morning light peeks through cracks in the curtains helping him make out that the bed next to him is empty aside from the abandoned sheets. He stretches his arms before turning his head towards the doorway, where he can hear the faint sound of the stove burning and coffee pot sizzling. Keith groggily hoists himself up, groaning in the process as he stumbles toward the door. As soon as he opens it, he is met with the sunlight streaming through the open curtains of Lance's apartment. Contrary to popular belief, vampires  _ can _ stroll in the daylight unharmed. Don't know  _ who _ started that ridiculous rumor but, c'mon, think about it: if vampires can only come out at night because of the sun, wouldn't the light from the stars also be harmful because the sun is a star? And isn't the moon's light actually from the sun? That's bullshit.

Lance stands in the kitchen with an apron tied around his waist. His back faces Keith as he cooks, humming along to the song that's playing on his phone. Keith coughs, abruptly shifting the brunette's attention from the stove to Keith. He smiles softly as he waves, "Morning! Did you sleep well last night?"

"Morning," Keith replies, slipping into the stool by the counter and waving back less enthusiastically. Keith nods, he did sleep well, he was out like a light but all of what he could remember from his dreams was a void of darkness. He decides not to inform Lance that. Lance nods to Keith's reply, his smile widening as he adds, "Good, I made breakfast. Do you want me to--

Lance hovers his wrist over a cup and lifts a knife. He indicates the knife to his wrist but Keith shakes his head, "No, I drank a lot last night, I'm good."

Lance sets down the knife and shrugs, "Suit yourself," he turns off the stove and transfers the plate of pancakes onto the counter. It smells delicious and it makes Keith miss being a human. He can still eat food, but they have no nutritional value and sugary sweet food like pancakes make him gag. Keith smells the bacon from the pan before it's placed in front of him. Keith smiles slightly as he pokes it. "It's not burnt."

"That happened  _ once _ !" Lance defends himself, "And you were distracting me!"

Keith sticks out his tongue teasingly as he picks up a piece of bacon and nibbles on it. Lance takes the stool next to Keith and begins to eat. Lance nudges Keith's shoulder as he asks, "You have work today?"

"Yeah," Keith replies as he finishes the last of his bacon, "I should probably head back to my place to get ready after breakfast."

Lance freezes for a moment, "But...you're not eating breakfast."

Keith blinks blankly at Lance before realizing that there is no plate in front of him, not even a cup of coffee and that the only thing he's had is a strip of bacon. Keith nods awkwardly, "Right."

"Which means..." Lance trails off as he picks up his mug and drinks his coffee. He can tell that the brunette is making him finish the sentence.

"I should get going," Keith solemnly says as he jumps off the stool. He's not sure why he's staying, he usually leaves after waking up and only stays if he needed something from Lance. He should've left a while ago since Keith didn't need anything.

_ Except for his company _ . His thoughts provide him, but he quickly dismisses it.

"Right," Lance sighs as he continues eating, "Let me know if you need anything alright?"

"Yup," Keith replies as he picks up all of his belongings. It's not much, just his wallet, his phone and the coat he brought last night.

"See you later Keith."

"Later."

Keith walks out of the apartment building, casually hiding his coat in a bag he stole on his way out. He crosses the street without much regard to the ongoing traffic as he heads back to his apartment. His place is about three blocks away from Lance's, it's a bit of a walk but he doesn't mind. The sun is out and it's hot again. Out in the streets, everybody is going out for the day. Groups of teenagers mill about as they shove each other and make snide comments of passersby. A group of girls with shopping bags in their hands pose for a picture by a beautiful water fountain at a park. Keith decides to take a shortcut to his apartment by taking the park. There's a small clearing by the pond that Keith likes to hang out by and feed the ducks. He considers stopping by on his way to work.  _ If I have time _ .

Before he knows it, he's emerged out of the park and on the steps of his apartment building. He swiftly opens the door and heads towards the elevators, politely greeting his neighbors as he walks past them. As soon as the elevators open on his floor, Keith steps out and heads towards the door numbered 1023: his apartment. He swiftly swipes into the key slot and opens the door, being greeted with the cool air of his apartment. 

Keith drops his bag by the doorway and turns on the light. The lamp flickers on and illuminates his place. There’s a small kitchen area that is unused aside from carton eggs and bread that he serves Lance with whenever he comes over. Across the room, and from Keith’s right is a tv wedged in between two bookshelves filled with comic books, classics, and collectibles. To his left. There’s an old couch that smells ancient but is otherwise comfy. In the far back is his bedroom and the bathroom, where he just has a closet for his clothes and a bed. His apartment is shabby compared to Lance's, but he's proud of it. He's just grateful that he's been able to acquire an apartment and become integrated back into society. He couldn't have done it without Lance.

"It's a bit...musty but it's cheap," Lance had said as he inserted the key, "You can get a better apartment once you get a job."

Keith nodded as he followed Lance inside. The brunette wasn't wrong, it was very untidy, it looked it hasn't been used in years. There is a thick layer of dust covering everything, and the apartment smells heavily like cigarette smoke. There are stains all over the wallpapers, and, the floor creaked as they walked across the floor. But Keith was happy. For the past month he's been sleeping in the dirt, and the months before that he was in a sleeping bag in a tent hidden in the woods. He hasn't had a home since, well, since he's been turned. Keith smiled as he faced Lance.

"Thanks," he said, and he really meant it. He couldn't believe this guy who he's literally met three days ago was doing this for him.

Lance smiled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his neck, "It's not that big of a deal--”

"It is," Keith interrupted, a hint of a blush beginning to spread across his face as he smiled. "Thank you."

Keith drops his wallet and phone on the counter as he stares at his apartment. In the months he's spent in it, so many things have changed. There's new furniture, ones that don't look like they're ready to collapse. The wallpapers were removed and painted over in a coat of brown paint. The apartment still smelled like cigarette smoke but Keith's used to it now. It's still shabby, but Keith has poured a lot of time, effort and money into it. It's all  _ his _ .

He changes into his uniform for work and grabs his wallet and phone before heading out the door. He works at a bar a couple of streets away from where he lives. It's a hassle, being a bartender, but the tips are good. Whatever pays the rent. Keith decides to take the shortcut by going through the alleys between the buildings. After months of living in this city, he knows every alley like the back of his hand. Before he found Lance, he even had spent nights in these alleyways, inside a cardboard box, hiding from the cold and snow of the blizzard with only a makeshift blanket as his source of warmth.  He knows which alleyways are occupied and which aren't. He knows the alleys where sketchy business is practiced and which ones that lead to other sections of the city. Keith ducks into an alley where he knows at the end are the backdoors of a hotel that he knows how to break into. Keith strolls through the dark alley, ignoring the steam brimming through pipes and the rotten smell of trash from the dumpsters. He makes a right, making a mental note to be extra friendly to the customers so he can rack up some cash when a voice makes him freeze.

"P-please! Leave me alone!" a pleading voice cries out.

Keith's eyes widen.  _ Somebody is in trouble! _ Keith stops in his tracks and creeps over to the brick wall of the building, pressing his back against as he quietly rounds the corner. He hides behind a dumpster and peaks through the gap between the bin and the wall. Before him, there are three men. 

One is against the wall, face pale and wet from anxiety. He has white hair tied up into a ponytail that catches Keith's attention. The other two are menacing. Both are in black, with fingerless gloves. In their hands are weapons. The big burly guy with an undercut and partially dyed white hair was holding a knife that gleamed blindly from the sparse sun rays hitting it. Keith immediately recognizes the material.

"Look at this remarkable craftsmanship, but don't touch it. A simple touch may hurt you." Keith was able to tell that the vampire wasn't joking. He was wearing ridiculous Hello Kitty oven mitts as he held the blade. It sparkled in the sunlight that peeked through the woods. Keith approached the blade with wonderment and looked up at the vampire. "It's silver isn't it?"

"Yes, and this is basic vampire 101, what does silver do to us?"

Keith paused for a few seconds eyeing the weapon before replying. "It kills you."

"Good," the vampire tossed the blade aside. It clanked against a nearby tree, "If you see silver, especially a silver weapon in the hands of an individual, run. They're hunters."

Keith watches as the big guy approaches the shaken individual. No words come from his mouth, his face is completely emotionless as he lifts the knife. Keith catches a scar ridden across the bridge of his nose. Images flash across Keith's mind. A distant memory he can't quite remember but suddenly Keith feels more uncomfortable than before. Next, to the guy, there's a lanky brunette, with a matching scar on the side of his face. His hands are in the pockets of his pants. There's a bored expression written across his face as he watches the bigger guy strike the poor dude. Like lightning, the trapped man lashes out. With superhuman strength, he lunges for the big man, his teeth bared.  _ Oh. He's a vampire _ . Which meant that the attackers were--

"Matt!" the big guy calls out as he evades the attack. The vampire snarls as he adjusts his footing and turns to face the two attackers. The lanky guy springs to life. He jumps into the air with an unnatural strength and unsheaths from god knows where silver daggers and slashes the vampire as he swiftly kicks off of a wall. He recognizes that guy. How could he not? The brunette had a distinct fighting style that anybody who witnessed it wouldn't be able to forget. Keith covers his mouth as he gasps, his heart racing as he backs away from the scene. Keith runs away, sprinting as fast as he could and takes shelter in the first store he comes across, a quaint bookstore with a rustic aesthetic. Keith takes the opportunity to catch his breath and organize his jumbled thoughts.

_ Hunters _ . They're in the city. Keith knows that they frequently traveled across the country, following the migrating clans of vampires (Keith would know, he was once apart of one of those clans), but he didn't think they'd find their way here. Keith had checked to see if there were clans around and there were none which could only mean--

_ They're after the strays _ . Keith quickly turns his heel away from the entrance and heads towards the back of the bookstore. He rounds a corner until he's in a secluded section (more like the section nobody ventures into because seriously, who needs to read a memoir on Ben Franklin when you could just look it up online?) and pauses anxiously digging in his belongings for his phone. His hands shake as he presses his thumb against the home button and unlocks the phone. He doesn't need to skim for through his contacts, they're always his most recent. He presses call and takes a deep breath as he presses the device against his ear.

"Keith?" Lance's concerned voice rings through the phone. Just hearing his voice instantly calms him down.

"I'm at the bookstore off of Auburn street," Keith rattles, "Get over here,  _ now _ .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art by: [grape-sorbet](https://grape-sorbet.tumblr.com/post/175608139887/a-drawing-inspired-by-rosiekeiths-fic-shelter)
> 
> Thank you [skiewrites](https://skiewrites.tumblr.com/) for beta'ing!
> 
> For updates on this fic, follow me on [tumblr](https://rosiekeith.tumblr.com)!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments are always appreciated! <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter two! Enjoy!

When Keith opened his eyes, he immediately hissed at the blinding light. He closed his eyes and squirmed, only to find himself tied to whatever uncomfortable accommodation he was on. He wiggled his hands, hoping that he could release himself and was met with a burning sensation. Keith's immediate reaction was to soothe the pain away but his other hand was tied as well and he gave out a sharp cry.

Immediately, a door from somewhere off to his left opened followed by footsteps. Keith turned his head to look but the light made his vision blurry. He could only sense a figure standing before him before Keith barked out, "Who the hell are you?"

A chuckle came from the figure, "That's none of your concern for now."

Keith gritted his teeth, "Then what does concern me?"

"Well, you're in a little predicament here aren't you?" The voice obviously belonged to a male, that was what Keith could tell. It sounded young, most likely from around the same age as Keith, 20, perhaps a bit older. It sounded articulate and pompous, and it aggravated him that this stranger had an advantage over him. Keith struggled in his restrains, and the stranger laughed as he leaned down to Keith's face. The action let some of the light bounce off of the stranger's face and Keith's eyes widened. He was one of the most attractive men Keith had ever seen. His skin was dark and smooth; his face had no blemishes and not a single trace of an imperfection. Those violet eyes of his reminded Keith of his own, but with more intensity, and more power. He had long white hair, tied up into a ponytail.

Keith found that his foot was loosely strapped and released his foot, kicking the guy in the shins. The guy cried out as he backed away and groaned in pain. Instantaneously, figures from the dark came rushing over and pinned Keith's leg to the mattress before tying it up again. He was bounded so tightly that Keith believed his circulation was cut off. The guy reappeared in Keith's vision again, a teasing smirk was on the guy's face as he said, "Rebelling is only going to make it worse for you."

"Then what the hell do you want?" Keith spat.

The man smiled down at Keith as he cupped the captive's face. It was a surprisingly soft gesture despite the situation Keith was in and he found himself relaxing into the touch. The man began to lean down, his eyes fluttering shut as mouth inched closer to Keith's. Keith's eyes widened and his heart leaped in his chest at the action. This was twisted and cruel! He does not want this stranger kissing him! Keith closed his eyes and grimaced at the thought.

The stranger paused for a moment, his lips only centimeters away from Keith's before whispering "You," and diving in for a kiss. His lips were smooth against Keith's, and his touch was so gentle and soft, Keith felt like jelly under him. The man ran soothing circles across the nape of Keith's neck and found himself becoming numb. Despite the gentle treatment, Keith refused to kiss back. However, the man didn't seem to care and he trailed his kisses downward, planting soft and ticklish kisses down his neck before settling his mouth against the patch of skin he had just been rubbing his thumb against. The man kissed it tenderly before biting it teasingly, and an involuntary moan came out of Keith's mouth. Keith widened his eyes and went to cover his mouth but was brutally reminded that he was tied up. Suddenly, a sharp pain began to emerge on the nape of his neck, right where the man had just been teasing him and Keith cries out in pain. He could feel his entire body numbing as blood trickled down his body. The pain wouldn't cease and Keith found himself panicking and panting frantically as he struggled to pry the guy off of him. He wouldn't budge. Tears began to form and drip down Keith's face.

"Stop!" Keith cried out as he jerked his body and attempted to get the man off of him. 

"Please stop it hurts! It hur--”

"Hey, Keith are you alright?" Lance's voice pipes in and Keith feels a hand on his shoulder. His head snaps up to find a concerned Lance looking down at him. The brunette gestures to Keith, "What happened?"

Keith blinks as he looks at his position. He's currently sitting on the floor, back against the wall in the corner of the bookstore. He turns back to Lance and finds himself at a lost of words. Did he just have a panic attack? He swears the last thing he remembers is ending the call with Lance and waiting for him to come and pick him up. He doesn't remember anything triggering it. Lance offers a hand to Keith and he takes it, letting Lance help him up. Lance smiles at Keith before his eyes fall down to the ground. Lance bends over and picks up a book off of the floor and places it on a shelf facing downwards. 

"Let's get you back to my place, yeah?" The brunette lays a comforting hand on Keith's shoulder before guiding him out of the bookstore.

They walk back to Lance's apartment in silence, aside from a few casual remarks from Lance about the sunny day. When they arrive to the apartment complex, the two take the elevator. Despite the fact that Keith usually takes the stairs to Lance's at night, it's also very common for the two to be seen heading up together in the elevator. One of Lance's neighbors and Keith's co-worker, Hunk, steps out of the elevator as it opens.

"Oh hey, guys!" Hunk waves as he passes by them. He gives the two of them a knowing smirk before turning to Keith and saying playfully, "I guess I won't be seeing you at work, huh Keith?"

Keith shakes head as he follows Lance into the elevator, "No, I'll be at the bar tonight."

Hunk laughs, " _ Sure you will." _ Keith squints at him as the doors close. What's up with the sarcasm? "See you."

When they enter Lance's apartment, Keith takes a seat on the couch and lies down on it while Lance hangs back in the kitchen and makes himself some tea. Keith closes his eyes and relaxes as he listens to Lance doing his thing. Eventually, Lance comes to the couch and nudges himself into the little space Keith has left him. Keith opens his eyes and sees Lance place his mug on the coffee table before turning to the black-haired man.

"What's wrong?" Lance asks, "Why did you call me?"

Keith sighs deeply. "Hunters."

Lance blinks, "Hunters?"

"I, uh," Keith frowns as twiddles with his fingers, "Haven't told you the whole story about how I found myself here."

"I know," Lance casually says, "You don't have to tell me--”

"No, I want to," Keith interrupts as he sits up, "Besides, I kind of need to now..."

"Okay," Lance responds as he picks up his mug and takes a sip, "Tell me."

"Okay," Keith takes a deep breath before explaining, "The night I escaped the clan, there was an attack. An attack from a group of hunters... they, uh, they're humans that spend their lives hunting down vampires. They usually track down clans, but never strays," Keith looks down at his hands, "Like me."

Lance's eyes widen slightly at the mention of strays. He sets down his mug and asks, "What? What does that mean?"

"Vampires without a clan. We're usually harder to detect unless one of us goes completely rogue. Hunters don't go after us since it's harder to track us down, but... today..." Keith takes a deep breath, the memory from earlier replaying in his mind. "I saw them...two of them, killing a stray." Keith turns to Lance, feeling out of breath as he admits, "If they got him, do you think that they could get me?"

Lance remains silent for a few seconds, mulling over the revelation in his head. He unconsciously thrums his fingers against the coffee mug before setting it down on the table and turning to face Keith. He's not sure what to make of Lance's expression, it's one he's never seen before. It's almost wistful but there's something more, something Keith isn't quite sure if he knows what it is. Lance leans forward blue eyes holding their gaze on Keith. Unsure of what to do, Keith sits still as Lance wraps his arms around him and nestles his head in the crook of his neck. Keith blinks, confused by the action and why he has received a hug. Lance rubs his hand on Keith's back soothingly as he whispers, "I won't let them take you. You're safe with me."

Overcome with emotion, Keith smiles and hugs Lance back. He closes his eyes as he buries his face into the crook of Lance's neck, taking in the familiar scent. "I know."

Lance is the first one to pull away, but his touch still lingers with a reassuring pat on the back as he says, "If you'd like, you can stay with me until we're sure they're gone."

"You don't have to do that." Because he doesn't. Lance has already given a lot to Keith and he's felt as if he's been taking advantage of Lance's kindness. This would be something else to add to that list.

"I don't mind, it'll be easier to watch over you. Besides," Lance shifts his gaze over to the bedroom for a moment before picking up his cup. "It'll be just like old times, eh?" Lance playfully elbows Keith before taking a sip of his tea, "C'mon, it'll be fun."

Keith sighs exasperatedly. He doesn't have much of a choice, does he? "Alright." Besides, it'll be much safer living with Lance rather than living alone. Hunters wouldn't think a human would harbor a vampire, right? And it'll be easier to get his blood if he forgets to get packets. It's a plan that sounds better than anything Keith could probably come with.

"Great!" Lance exclaims as he rests his tea on the table again! "We'll start moving you in Saturday, in the meantime pack up your stuff." Keith nods at Lance's instructions, watching as the brunette stands up and stresses, "Okay, enough of this, you still seem a bit shaken up. How about we watch a movie?"

"I'd love to," Keith replies as he stands up, "I'll get the popcorn."

"Ooh, popcorn sounds great!" Lance coos as he grabs the remote. "Any movie on your mind?"

"Nothing really, maybe something like horror?"

"Request granted, I'll check out what Netflix has."

"Okay," Keith replies as he puts the bag of popcorn in the microwave. After making the popcorn, Keith settles into the couch and nestles next to Lance, resting his head on his shoulder. "What movie is this?"

"Uh, IT?" Lance replies as he starts up the movie. He wraps an arm around Keith's shoulders and rests the bag of popcorn between them. "I heard good things about this movie."

"Strange," Keith says as he takes a kernel and nibbles on it, "I heard the opposite."

"Interesting," Lance comments, "Guess we'll have to watch and judge it ourselves."

"Guess so," Keith teases as he buries his head in Lance's shoulder and turns to the TV to watch the movie.

Hunk was right, Keith didn't go to work, he eventually found himself asleep curled on the couch against Lance. He doesn't even remember at what part of the movie did he start falling asleep, he just remembers being awake and then suddenly dreaming. He doesn't even realize he's been asleep until Lance shrugs his shoulder. "Hey sleepyhead, the movie is over."

Keith opens his head and groggily lifts his head from Lance's shoulder, before stretching out, "How long was I out?" He yawns.

"I don't know, not gonna lie, I fell asleep too." Lance admits. Now that he mentions it, Keith sees the slight swell on Lance's cheeks that he has when he first wakes up, "It's already night though." Lance points to the window and Keith turns to see that it's already dark out. Lance teasingly pokes Keith's side, "It's because you're so warm. It's funny how hot your skin feels after you've been fed compared to how cold you feel when you're hungry."

Keith chuckles airily, "You're also pretty hot yourself."

Lance blinks for a moment and Keith realizes what he just said. Keith frowns and turns away from Lance, as if that'll help him run away from the embarrassment. There's an awkward aura that fills the air as they sit there in silence. Keith's side is still pressed against Lance's and he can feel his face beginning to flame. He's not used to this close contact, not since...

He feels the sharp pain from that man's teeth on his neck again and Keith scoots away from Lance, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. Lance immediately notices and frowns.

"You're thinking about him again," Lance comments. There's hurt in his voice. "Are you still having nightmares?"

Keith nods, "Yeah sorry--”

Lance takes Keith's hand and Keith gasps as Lance inches closer to his face, blue eyes shimmering with passion and deep concern.

"Don't," Lance's voice sounds a bit angry as he tells Keith, " _ ever _ apologize for your nightmares again, you understand? I'm not gonna let you apologize for things nobody has control over."

"Lance," Keith's voice is just above a whisper. He's speechless and touched.

"If you've been having nightmares, why haven't you been talking to me about them?" Lance asks, "I thought we made an agreement that whenever you had them we'd discuss them?"

"Yeah, well," Keith breaks his hand free from Lance's, "I thought I was getting better, so I decided to stop bothering you but, I guess… I'm not."

"Keith, I don't know everything about what happened to you before we met, but hell, I know enough to know that your past is going to haunt you for a long time," Lance says, "Believe me, I have my own stuff too." His voice falters for a second before it returns to normal. "No living, or dead, person has had a perfect life." Lance smiles. "So, talk. I can help you. I've already helped you a lot," His hand reaches for Keith's again, this time for hesitantly. "Right?"

Keith stares at Lance and feels something strange tugging his still heart. There are some things that Lance does that make him feel alive again. It's like whenever he's with him, he's a human again and all of the atrocities that have happened to him fade into the background like white noise. Keith smiles as he takes Lance's hand "Right."

\----

It's weird seeing boxes all over his apartment again after months of living in it. At least this time, he's moving out instead of moving in. It's only temporary, or that's what Keith hopes it will be. Hopefully, he'll only have to live with Lance for a month or two before the hunters leave the city, chasing after the constant traveling clans.

Speaking of Lance and hunters, the man is currently helping Keith pack his stuff, asking questions about hunters. Normally, Lance wouldn't press about these things, knowing that they made Keith uncomfortable, but if the human was going to harbor a blood-sucking monster and protect him from people who were going to kill him, Lance ought to know.

"You said that hunters are always in groups and following clans, so aren't they technically clans too?" Lance takes off a book on the shelf and places it in the box.

"Not really," Keith answers as he folds his clothes, "They're more like unions, they usually have a cover-up job like traveling salesmen or whatever."

"Hunters own companies?" Lance asks as he picks up a book and looks down at the cover, "300 American Urban Legends. That's an interesting choice, Keith."

Keith shrugs ignoring Lance's comment, "I don't know, perhaps they do? All I know is the fact that most hunters are undercover, seeking out vampires while they work."

"Well, as a part-time barista I can tell you that there are some strange people who come and visit the café," Lance pauses as he looks at Keith, making Keith flush a bit.  _ Guilty as charged _ . "But to spot a clan of vampires, well, that's got to be hard."

"Vampires have specific traits that make them easy to spot," Keith cites off of memory, "Like--”

"The white hair," Lance interrupts playfully tugging on a strand of Keith's black hair.

"Yeah," Keith slaps Lance's hand away, "the white hair." It's true, all vampires have white hair, but ever since Keith ran away from his clan he's been dying it to the original color he had before he turned.

"I remember the night we met, the top of your head was already white," Lance reminisces, a dreamy look in his eyes, "You looked like Kaneki _. _ "

"Shut up," Keith sighs as he leans back, "Those were some rough times."

“Yes, they were.” Lance laughs jovially as he sets down another book in the box. Keith leans over a row of boxes so he can punch Lance in the shoulder. The corner of his lip quirks up as Lance turns around in mocking shock. He gasps as if he’s offended and lightly shoves Keith. Keith laughs along with him as the two return to their work. They stopped talking, but Lance fills the silence with his humming. Keith doesn’t recognize the song, but it sounds like a lullaby, even making Keith slightly drowsy. He unconsciously sways to the music as he continues folding clothes. He’s just about to ask Lance what song it is when the doorbell rings. The two freeze for a moment turning to each other. The two were confused, Keith only got visits from Lance occasionally and the mail was delivered to the post office across the street. Nobody ever comes to Keith’s apartment. Lance sets his stuff to the side and proceeds to stand up, wiping off whatever was on his jeans before heading towards the door, “I’ll get it, it’s probably somebody with the wrong address.”

“Thanks,” Keith replies as he continues folding clothes. The door creaks open and he hears Lance greet however rang. The response sends chills down Keith’s spine. It was more of the voice of the responder than the response itself. Keith turns his head towards the direction of the door, and his heart leaps in his chest. 

There stands the two hunters from earlier this week, both dressed in casual clothing. Lance is striking a conversation with them, but Lance looks a bit irritated with the slight crease in his forehead. The taller guy with the dyed hair responds to Lance’s question of what they were doing there.

“Sorry, I have the wrong number I guess. Can you tell me where is 1123?”

“Sure thing, take the elevator one floor up and make a right. Should be the apartment two doors down from there,” Lance’s smile looks strained as he points towards the direction of the elevators.

“Thank you,” the lanky one responds as he tugs on the other’s arm, “let’s go Shiro.”

Shiro pauses to look Lance up and down once more before turning away. The lanky one from earlier gives Lance a worried glance before following Shiro. As soon as they disappear, Lance relaxes and closes the door. He turns to Keith, straining another smile, “I was right, they were lost”

Keith nods before turning back to his clothes. His hands were beginning to shake and his breath was starting to shorten. Keith bit his lip irritatedly as he struggled to control his nerves. 

“Keith? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he lies as he picks up a shirt that immediately drops to the floor. He reaches out to take the shirt again, but a hand stops him. Keith freezes for a moment before looking up. Lance’s blue eyes give Keith a soft but firm look. Keith falters, turning his head away as he says, “They looked like-- no, it’s stupid, I shouldn’t say it.”

“Keith,” Lance insists, “What’s wrong?”

Keith takes a deep breath, turning back to Lance who is still staring at him with those intense blue eyes, “They looked like the hunters from the other day.”

“ _ Coño _ ,” Lance curses under his breath and stands up quickly, shoving the rest of Keith’s belongings into boxes, “It’s a good thing I directed them somewhere else, that gives us enough time to get out of here.”

“Lance,” Keith stands up, “We don’t know if they are after me, they were just passing by--”

“And they could be listening in on this conversation right now as we speak. C’mon, we’re heading back to my place. I’ll bring in the rest of your stuff tomorrow after work.” Lance interrupts as he hastily closes the boxes. 

“Lance--”

“ _ Right now _ .” Lance grabs Keith’s arm and looks at him dead in the eye with a furious glare. Keith finds himself frozen, unable to move. It feels like the world slows down a bit as Lance continues to plead with him to leave. He doesn’t budge. Lance grabs Keith’s shoulders and shakes him, “Keith!”

Keith wraps his arms around Lance, nestling his nose into the crook of his neck. He takes a whiff of the familiar scent, and sighs. He feels a tear slip down his cheek, but he doesn’t acknowledge it, letting it slide down his chin and onto Lance’s shirt. Others follow suit. Lance freezes, body tensing as he hesitantly asks, “...Keith?”

“You’re scaring me,” Keith whispers, “Why are you so nervous?”

Silence. He’s not sure for how long the two of them stay in that position, with Keith’s arms around the human and the smell of blood so, so tempting. He can feel Lance’s heartbeat slowly beginning to calm as finally, arms wrap around Keith, “I’m sorry.” He rubs Keith’s back, “I didn’t mean to scare you, the truth is, I’m scared as well.” The two of them break the hug and Keith realizes that Lance is also crying. He hesitantly lifts his hand up to the human’s face, wiping away his tears. Lance smiles weakly as he does the same for Keith, “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. You’re all I have now.”

Keith smiles back, grunting as he stands up. “I know, thank you for worrying about me, but we shouldn’t be hasty. Hastiness is where we make mistakes and to make sure they don’t suspect me, we need to carefully plan things,” he helps Lance up and claps his shoulder, “That’s something a member from my old clan used to say a lot.”

“He was wise,” Lance comments.

“He was also a murderer,” Keith adds, thinking about the haunting memory. The little girl, the blood, the smell of pine, and the moonlight filtering through the leaves of the trees. 

“Right,” Lance grimaces at the comment.

“C’mon,” Keith picks up another shirt and begins to fold, “Let’s finish packing.”

Keith opened his eyes, but instead of being in a blinding light, he’s shrouded in darkness. He felt strange and disoriented as if he’s been asleep for decades and the body he has awakened in wasn’t his. He felt like a hammer was pounding on his brain and his skin felt like it was covered in a sheet of ice. Coldness. Keith shivered and only then does he realize he’s not bounded anymore. Keith sat up, holding his throbbing head as he looked around the room. 

“It seems like sleeping beauty is finally awake,” a voice commented.

Keith whipped his head towards the direction of the voice. It was strange, his hearing had improved so much that he could pinpoint from where exactly it was coming from. If he had any strength, Keith would have attacked but he felt like lead and making any movement could break him. 

A switch was turned on and Keith covered his eyes squinting to get used to the light he was suddenly surrounded in. A few feet away from him stood the man from before, grinning wickedly. He approached Keith with ease. Now that he was completely visible, Keith could tell that the guy was tall, athletic and possessed a lot of strength and power. Handsome as he was, he was also cunning. He was almost like a prince, a diplomat of sorts with the attributes of a warrior. 

“How are you feeling?” He spoke in a captivating way, that if Keith didn’t know better, he sounded as if he actually cared for Keith’s well-being.

Keith gritted his teeth and growled at his kidnapper, “What have you done to me?”

The man’s wicked grin grew bigger, “Why don’t you see for yourself?” He pointed to something behind Keith and he turned around finding himself face to face with a mirror, but the person who he saw in his reflection was not him.

Sure, it looked like him but there was something horribly wrong. Where his black locks used to be, they were now all white, like snow. Keith’s jaw dropped and he felt tears beginning to prick as he lifted his hand and picked up a strand of his hair. He refused to look at it. It couldn’t be, it wasn’t possible. He dared to look at his hand and saw that in fact, the color of his hair changed. Keith held back a sob as he turned back to the man who was curiously peering at him.

“You,” Keith pointed an accusing finger towards the stranger’s direction, “What have you done to me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For updates on this fic, follow me on [tumblr](https://rosiekeith.tumblr.com)!
> 
> Thanks for reading, comments are always appreciated! <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

When they had first met, Keith had nothing but tattered clothes and a backpack breaking at its seams that only contained a musty old blanket and a handful of cash. Now, Lance’s apartment is filled with Keith’s things, and whatever couldn’t fit beside Lance’s belongings is stored in the boxes piled in a corner. It’s funny how things work themselves out in that way. 

 

Things go quickly back into a routine. Keith works at the bar at night while Lance spends his afternoons serving coffee at the coffee shop. Because of their busy schedules, they hardly ever see each other anyways, except early in the morning when the two are waking up to start their day.

 

Lance’s apartment is spacious, but with the additional bed, it has gotten a bit cramped. Aside from the tight space, the bed is uncomfortable, often leaving Keith with an ailing shoulder, or neck in the morning. Lance has offered to Keith several times to switch but Keith refuses every time. 

 

But, despite the uncomfortable bed, Keith sleeps soundly; his nightmares have mostly ceased. However, his anxiety attacks have not been faring well. Every time he sees anything that reminds him of his time with the clan, he immediately freezes. Thankfully, Lance is just around the corner when it does happen and he is able to calm him down and comfort him. He trusts Lance to take care of him when he needs it the most. When he gets them at work, Hunk is there to help. Usually, his co-worker takes him by the hand leads him to the break room or restroom allowing Keith to calm down, drink water, splash his face, whatever, while he calls Lance. If it’s a bad one, sometimes Hunk hugs him and rubs his back soothingly until Keith calms down. He’s the only other person he could trust, but he would never tell Hunk what’s wrong, why he’s getting these attacks. He’s told Lance a lot of his story, but he does not need to know more. He won’t let Lance know the whole story. He’s afraid of what Lance will think of him if he ever finds out the truth. That he’s a murderer. 

 

He often times blocked that part of his past from his mind, but sometimes it would slip, for it was often hard to ignore when thinking about his time with the clan.

 

Keith was handcuffed and walking between two women. They both looked tough and could take down a man if they wanted to. He knew that they were only there to take him down in case he tried something funny, like trying to escape or punching their leader in the face. Which was what he really wanted to do at that moment. 

 

The guards dragged him into the middle of the forest and forced him to sit. Keith argued with them for a few minutes before one of them finally pushed him to the ground. The impact caused his knee to scrape across the grass and Keith hissed at the pain. 

 

“What the hell,” Keith snapped at the guards.

 

“Boss’ orders,” replied one of the guards. Her hair was white but the ends were dyed in different colors, making her stand out.

 

“Yeah,” the other sneered (she was the one who pushed Keith down), “So I’d behave until he gets here.”

 

“But can somebody _ please  _ answer my questions?” Keith gritted his teeth.

 

“The boss will answer them once he arrives. He will explain everything.”

 

If Keith weren’t handcuffed, he’d have crossed his hands and pouted. Ever since he’d been kidnapped the boss had never answered any of his questions. And when he did acknowledge Keith’s existence, it left him with more questions rather than answers. Instead, Keith scowled as he stared up at the moonlight peeking through the leaves of the trees over his head. The past couple of days have been the worst. First, he was kidnapped, and then he woke up to find himself, bound, and with his hair an entirely different color. He’s gotten into a few fist fights and had escape attempts that went horribly wrong in between each one. At this point, his entire left side was badly bruised in varying shades of black and blue from all the fighting. 

 

Keith’s eyes shifted over to a clearing shrouded in darkness. Even now he was thinking about escaping, how long will it take for the guards to catch up? What is in the forest? Will he eventually reach civilization or will he find himself at a dead end? How long can he survive on his own? 

 

Before he can get too far in his plotting, the boss, escorted by more guards, emerged from the darkness. Keith glared at him as he approached him. From the first time they had met, Keith hated the guy. He’s punched him, kicked him and had even attempted to strangle him at one point. He hated everything about him, from how attractive and captivating he was, to how cunning and manipulative he could be. But, most of all, Keith hated how in the dark he was from everything. The boss almost never answered any of Keith’s questions, and the questions that he bothered to answer only left Keith with more questions than before. 

 

He paused just a foot away from Keith and barely spared him a glance before looking up at the guards in charge of Keith, “Did he give you guys a hard time?”

 

“Well,” the larger woman smiled pounding her fist into her hand as he glared down at Keith, “He has been a lot easier to handle recently.”

 

“Excellent,” he turned to the other guard, “ Acxa, uncuff him.”

 

“What?” Acxa responded, “But wouldn’t he-”

 

The man raised his hand, silencing his guard, “Do you trust me?” 

 

Acxa stared at him for a couple of seconds, conflict clearly written across her face before sighing, “Yes.”

 

Just like that, Keith was free. If he wanted to, he could run away, he could attack them, and he could finally be free. Keith stood up and stretched his limps and immediately a wave of fatigue washed over him. It must be the result of being malnourished and being trapped in a cramped cell for who knew how long. Keith fell down to his knees and felt his stomach churn but nothing came out. 

 

The boss knelt down and rested a tentative hand on Keith’s shoulder, “I know you’re feeling like it’s the end of the world for you. But I know how to make it all better.”

 

Keith looked up and stared right into the eyes of his kidnapper. Was he serious? After  _ everything _ , this guy had put him through? Keith gritted his teeth and raised his hand to slap the guy but one of the guards was already on him, bending his arm behind his back. Keith growled at the guard before turning back to the man, “How do you expect me to believe you when you can’t even answer one simple question?”

 

The man nodded in agreement, “I agree it’s totally unfair but I had to make sure…”

 

“Make sure of what?” Keith snapped. 

 

“That you would live,” he answered. The man took Keith’s face in the palm of his hands and he smiled down at Keith sadly, “Not everybody survives the process. And well, you weren’t looking too hot…”

 

Keith’s eyes widened. He almost died? But, since when…

 

“Tell me,” the boss asked  his eyes growing soft, “What was the last thing you remember before you woke up?”

 

Keith sat there wondering to himself, what was the last thing he remembered before coming to? It was so long ago; it felt like a dream.

 

“I was walking home,” Keith said, “It was 3 am and I was coming back from work so I was making a shortcut at a park and then I was attacked-”

 

He pulled up Keith’s shirt, revealing a scar that was right on top of Keith’s heart, “You were stabbed. They left you for dead.”

 

Keith blinked in confusion, “How do you know this?”

 

“Because I saved your life,” he said as he released the shirt, letting the clothing cover up the scar once more, “You would be dead right now if it weren’t for me.”

 

Keith gritted his teeth, “Oh, what are you, some kind of doctor?” 

 

“Better, no medicine out in the market could have brought you back to life,” the boss explained.

 

Keith shifted his position so that his face was only a few inches away from his captor. Keith hoped he looked more intimidating than he felt as he looked straight into those purple eyes and demanded, “What did you do to me?”

 

The man smiled lovingly at Keith, “We take care of our own here. And I promise you that as long as you’re with us, no sickness, no death no harm will ever come to yo-”

 

Keith, angered by how smoothly the guy had side-stepped his questions, had a sudden burst of adrenaline and broke free from the guard’s grasp. In a flash, Keith was on top of the man who had ruined his life, his fists curled into the material of his shirt as he raised the shocked man’s face towards him. 

 

“What did you do to me?” Keith repeated, even more, annoyed than before. 

 

The man stared up at him, eyes wide from shock. Keith felt the guards cornering him, their hands groping Keith’s shoulders as they attempted to pull him off the victim. Keith refused to let go, holding on tighter as he glared at the man. The man smiled coyly and laughed. Now, it was time for Keith to be confused. He released his grasp on the man’s shirt and stared down at him, a sense of dread looming over him. 

 

“I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out,” he grabbed Keith’s hand and placed it on Keith’s chest, “Have you seriously not noticed anything besides your hair?” 

 

Keith sat there in confusion feeling the heartbeat of his chest, except there wasn’t any. Keith panicked and checked his pulse, but there was none. He turned to the man, “Am I dead?”

 

“Not quite, your organs have stopped functioning the way they used to,” the man stood up and brushed off the dirt from his pants, “Have you noticed how sensitive to light you are? How your sense of smell is much stronger? Have you noticed that your eyesight and hearing has greatly improved?”

 

Keith looked down at his hands in disbelief he  _ had  _ noticed before but he didn’t make much of it, “I never really thought about it.”

 

“It’s all part of the delicate process,” he explained as he held out his hand to Keith, “And there is still a chance that you could die, not unless…”

 

“Unless what?”

 

“I’ll explain later, but I’m sure you want to know more haven’t you?” Keith nodded. The man smiled as he indicated his stretched out his hand again, “Sit up and I’ll explain it all to you.”

 

Keith grabbed the hand and allowed him to pull him up. 

 

“Congratulations Keith, you’re  _ superhuman _ now, you’re a vampire.”

 

The boss began to explain everything Keith has been wanting to know since he woke up tied up to a bed. He explained about vampires, where they originated, how they’re formed (a dose of blood from a vampire and then getting your own blood drained), and he went into excruciating detail about clans. 

 

Clans, as said by the man who turned him himself, were groups of vampires banded together. They were like packs of wolves, they took care of their own and traveled often. Most clans were close-knit, just family members but he had explained to Keith that this clan was different, nobody was even remotely blood-related. 

 

“Everybody here like you was close to death,” he explained, “They’ve grown up impoverished, or abused, neglected. Maybe they were just caught in the wrong crowd, but here, they’ve all been given a second chance of life. We take care of each other, it’s what we do. And we will take care of  _ you _ .”

 

The man snapped his fingers and one of the guards scurried off into the darkness again. Keith paid no attention to the guard however, his focus was entirely on the boss.

 

“If you wish to join, you must pass one final stage to become a full-fledged vampire.”

 

Keith looked up at him, meeting those charismatic purple eyes. He held a convincing case, he had saved his life, and, like the others, he was an orphan who was constantly kicked out of homes in the foster care system. He was hoping that, when he went to college, his life would stabilize, but even there he was an outcast. Perhaps this clan could finally be the family he’d been waiting for. But then again, he really didn’t have a choice. He’d already been converted into one of them, and according to the man, his chances of surviving without them were slim. 

 

Keith straightened his back as he clenched his fists, “What do I have to do?”

 

The man smiled as he snapped his fingers, “Ezor, bring the body.” As he stepped aside, one of his guards emerged from the darkness the unconscious body of a little girl cradled in her arms.

 

“You must drink the blood of this human.”

 

Ezor laid the body down the ground, and Keith felt like he was going to be sick. The little girl was obviously still alive, her chest rising and falling as she laid there. Keith’s senses were telling him that she was slowly dying, but the heavy smell of iron coming from her was telling him another story. He had the sudden urge to bite into her flesh and suck the remaining blood from her, but he refused to give in. 

 

“No,” Keith said, “I refuse to kill this human.” 

 

“She’s dying anyway,” Acxa replied pointed to the girl, “It’s best to put her out of her misery.”

 

“But can’t you save her? Isn’t this what you guys do?”

 

The boss shook his head, “I’m afraid not, she’s too young for us to save. But we can save you, by ending her life, we save yours.” The boss approached Keith with a soft smile on his face, “You must drink her blood in order to live, or else you’ll die.”

 

Tears were starting to roll down Keith’s face as he stared at the body. Every single instinct inside of him was telling him to go up to her and just end it already, and he felt repulsed by it. He had been turned into a monster against his will, and now he was to end somebody else’s life for his own survival. 

 

“You are no longer human, Keith. You do not abide by the rules of human morality anymore. You abide by the moral codes of vampires, and this is completely okay, in fact, you’re doing her a favor.” 

 

Keith felt his whole body shaking as he took a step towards the body.  _ Don’t do this Keith. You may be a monster now but you’re no murderer.  _

 

Keith froze. The girl’s hand began to twitch. She was regaining consciousness. If she were to wake up and open her eyes, Keith knew he definitely couldn’t bring himself to do it. 

 

_ But if you don’t end her, you will die.  _

 

Keith knelt down beside her and took her twitching hand. Her veins were starting to glow, as if they were telling him where the best spots to get blood from were. Keith could feel a shift in his mouth, a new pair of teeth forming and prodding the bottom of Keith’s lips. The girl’s nose crinkled. Keith took a deep breath. He couldn’t do this. Not to this random girl. She deserved to be saved, not to die in the arms of a monster. It was inhumane. 

 

_ You are no longer human _ . 

 

The girl’s eyes began to open, revealing a beautiful shade of amber. Tears were starting to form and her mouth opened, but nothing came out. She was either too weak to fight or had completely given up because she simply lifted her hand up to Keith’s face, making the iron smell even stronger. Keith was so hungry, and here she was, offering him food. 

 

_ You do not abide by the rules of human morality anymore _ . 

 

Keith sank his teeth into her wrist and began to drink her blood. And he did not stop until he drained every last bit of her. 

 

“Hey, man,” Hunk’s voice cuts into Keith’s consciousness, “You alright?”

 

Keith blinks, “What?”

 

“You’re not looking so hot.” Keith can see Hunk’s concerned face clearly now, “Need to sit down?”

 

“Uh, yeah,” Keith replies, allowing his co-worker to place his hand on his shoulders and steer him towards the nearest bar stool. 

 

“There,” Hunk pats Keith’s back, “Better?”

 

Keith turns his head away from Hunk to look at his surroundings. Right. He’s working at the bar tonight. That forest from his flashbacks is of the past, this is his reality now. He’s in better times.

 

“Better,” Keith smiles, “Can you get me a drink?”

 

“Sure,” Hunk squeezes Keith’s shoulder as he goes behind the counter and picks up a glass and pours water into it. 

 

As Keith watches Hunk fetch him his water, Keith wonders to himself what triggered the flashback. Keith retraces his steps. He’d been cleaning up the tables after the bar closed. He had approached a table with piles of glass all over. While cleaning Keith’s hand slipped and one of the glasses fell… but what happened after that?

 

“Here you go,” Hunk says as he hands the glass to Keith.

 

“Thanks,” Keith says as he takes the glass and takes a sip. Immediately, the cool liquid relaxed him and Keith releases a heavy sigh. He’s going to have to report this to Lance, it’s been the worst one he’s had in a while. 

 

“Oh, what’s that on your hand?” Hunk asks.

 

“What?” Keith asks setting down his drink and lifting up his hand.

 

“It’s… bloody…”

 

Hunk is right. Keith’s hand is covered in dried blood. Suddenly, the rest of Keith’s memory came flooding back to him. After the glass fell, Keith, on instinct, bent over to clean up the mess but one of the shards of glass sliced his skin. Blood began to drip and Keith raced over to the towels across the room to clean himself up. He must’ve blacked out sometime before he got to the towels. Which would explain why his hand was covered in dried blood.

 

“Oh,” Keith frowns, “I knocked over a glass earlier and tried to pick it up…”

 

“I’ll get you towels to wipe that off. Oh and some bandages!” Hunk says as he races off into the backroom to retrieve the first aid kit. 

 

“Thanks!” Keith calls out as he takes another sip of his drink. Lance is going to freak out when he finds out that Keith hurt himself during work and _flip_ _tables_ when he discovers he’s had a horrible flashback to accompany it. Hopefully, Lance will be asleep when Keith gets home so he doesn’t have to worry about Lance’s reaction until the morning, or, if he’s lucky enough, the afternoon when Lance returns from work.

 

After Hunk returns and tends to his wounds. Their boss comes in and dismisses Keith for the night due to the injury and his flashback that apparently seems to be still shaken over. His boss told him to rest well and feel better and with that. Keith returned to his shared apartment with Lance.

 

“I’m home,” Keith calls out when he opens the door, only to be met with darkness.  _ Good _ , that means Lance is asleep. He kicks off his shoes at the entrance and drops his backpack next to them before heading towards his room. Keith quietly turns the knob and pushes the door open. The first thing to hit is face is the bright orange light from the open bathroom door. The second thing, makes Keith freeze. 

 

Lance is standing in front of the mirror brushing his teeth with nothing but his boxers on. While Keith has seen Lance without his shirt on several times, this was something completely different. He’s never seen Lance without his pants on, and certainly not in such a casual situation like this. It felt intimate somehow and it made Keith’s face flame a bit that he is even thinking about that. He tries to quietly close the door but his jerks at the last moment and the door slams, causing Lance to jolt and abruptly turn around. Keith stands by the door, his heart beating fast as blue eyes meet his. 

 

“Oh,” Lance places a hand on his chest and he sighs, “Jesus christ Keith, you scared me!”

 

“Sorry,” Keith apologizes, “I was trying to be quiet.”

 

Lance laughs as he turns back to brushing his teeth, “It’s no biggie. At least I wasn't asleep.” 

 

“Yeah…” Keith replies, “By the way, you got some toothpaste on your cheek.”

 

“Shit!” Lance curses as he grabs a towel and furiously wipes the toothpaste off, “That’s embarrassing!”

 

Keith laughs as he goes to his drawer and retrieves his clothes. It’s okay, he’s got this. Lance trusts him, and he trusts Lance. At least he’s got his boxers on. Keith changes into his pajamas and sits down on his bed. He looks into the bathroom and watches Lance, which he shouldn’t be doing but he can’t help himself. All the times he’s seen Lance shirtless has been when he is too dazed and hungry too even care about anything but the blood Lance is offering him, it’s never been anything this intimate. And now with his back turned towards Keith, Keith is noticing even more things he’s never noticed before. Like the perfectly sculpted ass Lance has, and the various scars he has all over his body. He had known that Lance has scars from Keith’s fangs but the amount Lance has all over his body...well it intrigued Keith. How does such a simple guy have so many scars? 

 

There was especially one however that caught Keith’s interest. It was a long jagged scar that ran down from the back of Lance’s shoulder to the small of his back. It looked like a scratch but no human on Earth could possibly scratch someone’s back like that, no matter how hard they tried. So it had to belong to a knife or a freakish accident. Keith stands up and approaches Lance.

 

“Hey, what’s up?” Lance asks as he finally puts on some pants. 

 

Keith reaches his hand out to Lance gingerly pressing his fingers against the small of his back, “This scar… how did you…”

 

Lance frowns as he looks over his shoulder, “Memories I do not want to dwell into.”

 

“How am I only finding out you had this scar now? I’ve known you for over a year.”

 

Lance’s eyes shift over to Keith and he smiles sadly, “Because this the first time you’ve ever actually  _ looked _ at me.”

 

Keith retracts his hand and frowns, “I guess so.”

 

“Wait a second,” Lance straightens up and grabs Keith’s bandaged hand, “Your hand…” 

 

“It was an accident at work,” Keith replies, “Hunk bandaged it for me, it’s no big deal.”

 

Lance examines the hand for a second before releasing it and returning to the mirror. His face is blank when he says, “Good, it’s nothing too big right?”

 

“I don’t think so,” Keith replies as his returns to his side.

 

“Good,” Lance says as he pulls a shirt over his head, “I got work early tomorrow and I’m tired, let’s go to bed.”

 

“Okay,” Keith replies following lance out of the bathroom. He turns to go into his own bed but Lance grabs his wrist. Keith turns to find Lance’s blue eyes on him, a pleading look on his face.

 

“Sleep with me tonight,” Lance begs.

 

On any other night, Keith would’ve recoiled. He would’ve pried Lance’s hand off of him and rejected him. But for some reason tonight, Keith gives in. He nods and allows Lance to pull him onto the comfortable bed. Lance pulls the covers over their bodies and the two lie in the dark staring at each other. Keith has never slept in bed with somebody, not this innocently at least. He’s not sure what to do. He feels uncomfortable. Shouldn't they be closer? Or is this close enough? He doesn’t know Lance’s boundaries, hell, he doesn’t know his own boundaries. 

 

Finally, Lance laughs and he wraps an arm around Keith’s waist, pulling him closer to the human who has saved his life. “You don’t have to be so stiff you idiot. Relax.” Keith's eyes widen from the contact and Lance pulls his hand away, blushing, “Right sorry, I forgot you don’t like being touched.”

 

“No, no, you’re alright,” Keith replies awkwardly as he turns over in his bed, still facing Lance. Their faces are only a few inches apart. 

 

“Sorry, I just…” Lance frowns for a second, “I’m craving touch tonight.”

 

Keith flushes and Lance’s face begins to redden in the realization of the implications his words meant, “No, no! Not like that. I just need...company... you know?”

 

“Yeah, I get that sometimes,” Keith replies. He should probably be telling him about what happened but Lance seemed to be tired. Besides, he didn’t want to ruin the moment. This was the most intimate he’s ever gotten with somebody in forever. He didn’t want to waste this opportunity. Having Lance beside him like this is a rare occasion, and may not ever happen again. He wants to indulge in it. 

 

Lance nuzzle his face in the crevice between Keith’s neck and shoulder and the overwhelming smell of _ Lance _ , begins to take over Keith’s senses. It didn’t help that he could feel Lance’s breathing across his skin, tickling it slightly. Keith turns around and wraps an around Lance pulling their bodies even closer to before. Keith shifts his other hand and lets Lance rest his head against his chest. If Keith's heart still functioned like a normal human’s, it would be beating rapidly right now, next to Lance like this. Lance opens his eyes slightly for a couple of seconds before smiling and falling back to sleep.

 

“Night Keith,” he drawls.

 

Keith smiles back, “Goodnight.” 

 

When Keith wakes up, Lance has already gone to work. Keith takes it as his time to get his blood and rest a bit more before heading off to work. He’s out the door before Lance returns. His boss had called in earlier, asking for Keith to come earlier. No problem, he’s willing to make up the time he missed from the night before anyways. 

 

As he crosses the street that leads to the bar he works at, a group of people passes by Keith. They all seem to be about Keith’s age, probably all from the local college in the city. There was something about them that made Keith’s senses go up. He abruptly freezes and turns back to get a better look at them. They are an odd bunch. All of them have the same color of hair, white and all of them seemed quite pale as if they were sick. And they looked familiar too. The tallest one with long white hair tied into a ponytail turns to one of his friends and as soon as Keith’s falls onto him every part of Keith’s body turns to ice. It was  _ him _ . 

 

Keith sat down on the boss’ bed, letting him tend to his wounds. At that point it was a routine, Keith went out to hunt, would get into a fight, and would come back injured and the boss would tend to his wounds. He would always receive this special treatment from him, nobody else in the clan had the opportunity to spend this much alone time with the leader of the clan. Keith assumed that it was because not only he was the newest member of the clan, but was also presumably the youngest, being only 19 before being turned. 

 

“You need to stop being so rash,” the boss chastised him as he cleaned the blood dripping down Keith’s head. Somebody had beaten him down with a pipe at one point. “You’re going to get yourself killed.” 

 

Keith didn’t reply, he just simply listened to his lecture. 

 

“I’m worried for you,” he drawled on, “You’re one of the best we got, I would hate for something to happen to you.”

 

Keith didn’t really care either way. Whenever he went out, somebody had to die, it was either going to be him or his target. 

 

“You may have superior strength over these humans now but you’re lucky you haven’t had a run in with a hunter yet. Your impulsiveness against them will get you killed. You must be careful Keith.”

 

Keith nodded as he placed a bandage over Keith’s wound, “There, all better.” The boss took Keith’s hand and leaned forward pushing back a strand of Keith’s hair, “Even with that hello kitty bandage on your forehead you still manage to look beautiful.” 

 

Keith managed to smile, but it was completely fake. Keith hasn’t felt a single emotion, not since that night in the woods. He was completely devoid of emotion, almost like a robot. He was just a puppet to the boss’ commands and followed whatever he wanted. 

“Thanks,” Keith said retracting away from the boss’ touch, “It is past curfew, I must return to my-”

 

The man took Keith’s hand and smiled shyly, “Can I at least have one kiss before you go?”

 

Keith didn’t even answer. He just stood there and closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Suddenly lips were pressed against his and Keith returned them. He didn’t feel anything, and yet it was moments like these that stopped from ending it all. Because in some cruel and twisted way, this guy loved him, and Keith was here anyway, so why not just give him what he wanted. 

 

He’s got nothing else left for him anyway.

 

When they parted, Keith could already tell that he wasn’t going to be returning to his bed that night. The man pulled him back onto the bed and asked if it was alright if Keith stayed. 

 

Keith’s only reply was the unbuttoning of his shirt before lying back into the sheets of the bed. He closed his eyes thinking about nothing, as lips were pressed against his own again, this time more insistent than before. Keith returned it just as passionately but felt nothing behind it. He was just following his lead. Cause that’s what he was: a puppet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow my [tumblr](https://rosiekeith.tumblr.com) for more updates.
> 
> Thanks for reading, comments are always appreciated <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now this is where it gets good. Enjoy!

Keith doesn’t stop running until he’s in front of the apartment complex he currently resides in. He couldn’t bring himself to slow down, not even a little bit. If he stops for even a millisecond, the world he knows could disappear under his feet. ‘Cause that's what it felt like, the entire world spinning and dissolving slowly around Keith as he runs. And it’s all because of one person.

 

Under the circumstances, he’s always thought that the boss was dead. That, obviously, isn’t the case. He’s alive and breathing, and better than ever. Just the thought of him being alive made Keith sick, but the fact that he’s here, in the city, made Keith want to disintegrate or have the Earth open a hole and swallow him whole. If he’s here then that meant that the rest of the clan is too. So the hunters weren’t going after the strays, after all, they were after a clan, his old clan. 

 

Keith bolts up the stairs, hoping to find Lance in there to comfort him when he stops abruptly. Upon exiting the stairwell, the two hunters from before were standing in the hallway, looking desperate. The brunet, which Keith now knows as Matt, is talking to somebody in the apartment closest to the stairs: Lance’s apartment.

 

Keith finds himself frozen as he stares at the scene before him. Just when he couldn’t think his day could get worse, the hunters are standing before his only safe haven. He has nowhere else to run. 

 

“No,” Lance says, answering a question Matt must’ve been asking before Keith was within earshot. He looks angry, his eyebrows turned up and his nose scrunched in that kind of adorable way when he’s annoyed with something.

 

“Please,” Matt begs, “We need your help.”

 

“I already told you, I don’t help out with these things like that,” Lance growls, “You’re on your own.”

 

Matt turns to his friend, “Shiro?”

 

Shiro steps forward, a gentle smile on his face as he addresses Lance, “Can you at least tell us if you’ve noticed anything strange? Like sudden groups of white-haired people, people disappearing off the streets…”

 

“I’m not telling you anything,” Lance snaps. “Go and figure this all out by yourselves.”

 

Lance goes to close the door, but Shiro places a hand on the door, stopping him from doing so. 

 

“Hey!” Lance protests, “Just leave me alone!”

 

Keith’s heart races as he watches Lance struggle to fend off the hunters; they seem really persistent in whatever they’re trying to get out of Lance. And he knows it’s risky, but he should help Lance out. It’s the least he can do for everything Lance has done for him. 

 

Keith takes a deep breath before stepping in between Shiro and Lance. He locks eyes with the hunter and gives him the hardest glare he can muster before growling, “Leave him alone.”

 

“ _ Keith _ ,” Lance hisses next to him already placing a protective arm in front of Keith. 

 

Keith doesn’t pay attention to Lance’s warning, he’s too caught up in a staring contest with Shiro. The two eye each other sizing each other up. Realistically speaking, Shiro will pulverize Keith in seconds if a fight broke out, but Keith isn’t human. His supernatural strength overpowers Shiro, but then again, Shiro is a hunter, there is no telling how long Keith can last against a weapon that will kill him if he makes a foolish mistake. 

 

Matt, sensing the tension arising between Shiro and Keith clears his throat and steps forward, giving Lance a puzzled look, “Who is this?”

 

Keith turns to Lance, his heart beating. What will Lance say? Stating that he’s the vampire Lance is harboring is a bad idea, but it would look weird if Lance states he’s just a friend right? Lance retreats the arm he has in front of Keith and snakes it around Keith’s back until it rests on his hips, and suddenly, Keith is being pulled closer to Lance, slamming into his side as their bodies connect. Keith gasps at the sudden action and plants his hands on Lance’s shoulders to prevent himself from falling forward. Keith looks at Lance’s face and finds him almost unrecognizable. His face is hard and focused with determination. They lock eyes for a brief moment before Lance turns back to the hunters. Keith smiles, knowing that Lance has everything under control. 

 

“This is Keith, my boyfriend,” Lance states turning back to Keith to give him a soft smile. 

 

...What? 

 

Keith stares at Lance agape. What did he just call him? His boyfriend? But, that doesn’t even make any sense. They’re friends, why would Lance even say that? 

 

Keith’s mind races so much that he can barely comprehend the conversation Lance is having in trying to get rid of the others. His ears are ringing and the only thing he is aware of the feel of Lance’s body against his as Lance holds him there. His heart races. What the hell is going on? 

 

“I see,” Shiro gives the two of them a once over, “Then I guess we’ll be heading off then.”

 

“Take care,” Lance waves.

 

The two hunters leave and Lance closes the door. As soon as the door is shut, Lance releases Keith and sighs. Keith remains frozen staring at Lance. 

 

“That was close,” Lance sighs, “I don’t know what would’ve happened if- well, it doesn’t matter anymore.” Lane chuckles to himself before turning to Keith, “Sorry about that by the way.”

 

Keith waves him off, “It’s fine, all what matters is that they’re gone.”

 

Lance laughs, “Yeah, thank god for that. But let’s forget about this scare and just relax.” Lance says as he takes out a bottle of wine, “Do you need blood?”

 

Keith shakes his head, “I’m good.”

 

Lance sets a glass onto the counter and begins to pour the alcohol, “So, talk to me.”

 

Keith thinks about the encounter with his old clan earlier but then pushes away the thought. Lance is obviously shaken enough by the hunters, adding in his old clan business will only make matters worse. Besides, the last thing Keith needs after everything that has happened is to be even more anxious than he already is. So instead Keith takes a seat on the couch, gesturing Lance to join him. 

 

“What do you want to talk about?” Keith asks. 

 

Lance shrugs, “I don’t know, tell me about yourself.”

 

Keith snorts, “Seriously? You know everything by now.”

 

Lance shakes his head, “That’s not true. I know a  _ lot  _ about you, but not  _ everything _ . Tell me something you haven’t told anybody else.”

 

Keith gives him a glare, “No.”

 

Lance giggles taking a sip of his drink, “Tell me your life story.”

 

Keith stands up, “I’m leaving.”

 

“No!” Lance grabs Keith’s wrist. When they lock eyes, Lance immediately releases Keith and blushes, “I mean, please stay, It’s been awhile since the two of us have relaxed like this.”

 

Keith frowns, “W-we’ve never…”

 

Their nights have always consisted of either frantic planning on how to stay off radar or Keith coming by to get blood. And even now that they live together, they barely ever talk about normal things, because their relationship is the furthest thing from normal. Sure there was the occasional movie night, but they’ve never really talked about themselves, aside from Keith’s tragic backstory. 

 

“Besides,” Keith adds, “You already know my life story. An orphaned kid who finally had a chance of getting a normal life gets abducted and his life gets turned upside down.” Keith sits back down on the couch and teasingly leans into Lance, “You, however, have yet to tell me your life story.”

 

Lance frowns looking down at his drink, “You don’t need to know anything about my life story, believe me, it’s something you don’t want to know…”

 

“But I want to know,” Keith says, taking Lance’s hand, “Don’t you think I should know about the guy who has sacrificed everything for me?” 

 

Lance angrily slams his drink down on the coffee table, “Keith, there are just some things I want to tell you, but I can’t. I can’t tell you because,” Lance starts to tear up, his words choking up as he says, “I’m afraid of losing you too.”

 

Seeing his friend cry like that made Keith’s heart sting. Keith leans forward and wraps his arms around Lance. He holds him there, letting Lance cry into his shoulder as he runs a soothing hand through his brown locks.

 

“There’s nothing that you can tell me that’ll make me lose you,” Keith states, “I’m here for as long as you want me around got that? If you’re not ready to tell me yet, then I’ll respect that. I’m sorry for pushing it.”

 

“It’s not your fault,” Lance sobs. 

 

When they pull apart, Lance rubs his tears away with his arm and takes another drink. Keith rubs Lance’s hands in a comforting way. 

 

“Hey, want to hear a funny story?”

 

“What.”

 

“Before, all of this, my big dream was to become an artist.”

 

Lance lifts an eyebrow, “Really?”

 

Keith nods, “Yes, funny right?”

 

“Hold on, I have to see what you can do,” Lance begins to rummage the apartment.

 

“I haven’t done any art since… not since...”

 

“Hey, you’re pretty good,” Acxa commented as she entered the tent. 

 

Since Keith spent most of his nights with his boss, Keith’s place became a place just where Keith could get his mind off of things. Like the whole vampire thing. Or the hunts. Or his boss. Or well, he just used painting to escape reality. 

 

Keith turned to Acxa, “They’re not as good as they used to be.”

 

His paintings used to be vibrant, cheerful and brought Keith a sense of joy. The painting in front of him was dark, dreadful and only reminded Keith of the misery he’s in. 

 

“You think so? I think they’re pretty nice,” Acxa pointed at the piece Keith had been working on, “It really fits the aesthetic around here.”

 

Keith turned to Acxa annoyed, “What do you want?”

 

“Nothing,” she replied, picking up a box of art supplies, “Did he get you these?”

 

“No, I stole them from a shop during a raid,” Keith said. 

 

Acxa chuckled, “Of course, my bad. But seriously your art is amazing, you should do something more... _ colorful _ next time.”

 

Keith froze, “I-I haven’t-”

 

Acxa smiled sympathetically, wrapping her arms around Keith like a big sister would, “It’s fine, we were all like this at first. But things get better.” 

 

Keith scoffed pushing her away from him, “You’re joking.” 

 

“I’m not,” Acxa said, “He saved a lot of us from a trainwreck.”

 

He gritted his teeth, and snapped his paintbrush with his clenched fists, “I, wasn’t going to be a trainwreck. I saved myself from a trainwreck. He didn’t save me, he ruined me.”

 

“Yet, you still go to bed with him.”

 

“That’s…” Keith threw his snapped paintbrush at the wall, “another matter.”

 

Acxa snorted, “You’re a fully fledged vampire now, you know that? You can leave anytime.”

 

“No, I can’t,” Keith replied. “I got people like you watching me all the time.” 

 

Acxa shrugged, “If you were to leave right now, I wouldn’t stop you.” 

 

“Really?”

 

Acxa nodded, “Go ahead, I wouldn’t stop you.”

 

“I don’t believe you,” Keith shook his head.

 

“Then don’t,” Acxa replied turning her back to Keith, “But I wonder: if an opportunity to leave this shithole ever popped up, would you leave?”

 

“If I can leave and never come back here, I will.”

 

Acxa smiled mischievously, “Are you sure about that? By the way, I would hide this stuff before the boss comes.”

 

With those words, she exited the tent and Keith stared back at his artwork. 

 

“What’s the point?” Keith groaned as he turned away from his painting, “I’m never getting out of this place.” 

 

He grabbed the canvas and smashed it on the floor frustratingly. He kept on smashing it, the canvas splintering into a million pieces until Keith couldn’t take it anymore and tosses the canvas across the room. He dropped to his knees, realizing what he had done and buried his head in his hands. 

 

He’s losing himself completely to the clan.

 

“Found it!” Lance shouts as he triumphantly slaps a sketchbook on Keith’s lap, “My old sketchbook!” 

 

Keith picks up the sketchbook and curiously skims through it, “You draw?”

 

“No, I just have this lying around here,” Lance sarcastically says as he takes his drink. Keith gives him a dubious look and Lance rolls his eyes, “Yes, duh, Keith, I used to draw all the time, they’re nothing noteworthy though just doodles I made during class.”

 

Keith’s heart grows fond of the cute drawings Lance has as he thumbs through the pages. They’re all cartoony and pleasing to the eye and outright adorable. Lance drew a dog, a flower, hearts. A pretty girl, whatever he pleases in a style so special, Keith is tempted to ask Lance to draw in his stead. But the human is already sitting on the couch next to Keith, his blue eyes sparkling with curiosity as he eagerly waits for what Keith will produce. 

 

When Keith reaches a clean page, he stops and picks up a pencil. He takes a moment to think: what should he draw? But nothing comes to mind. It’s been so long, his creative juices have run out. 

 

“Try drawing something you find attractive,” Lance suggests, noticing that Keith is struggling to come up with an idea.

 

Keith smiles at the suggestion and jokingly says, “I’ll draw your eyes then because they’re the most attractive on Earth.” 

 

Lance’s eyes widen and Keith immediately wants to take back what he said. His face reddens as he turns back to the sketchbook and begins to draw. 

 

“I’m joking,” Keith states hoping Lance doesn’t pick up how his voice wavers, “Eyes are just easy to draw.” 

 

Lance chuckles poking Keith teasingly, “Eyes are easy to draw?”

 

“Shut up,” he replies already drawing.

 

“But why my eye, why not your eye?” Lance giggles (is he starting to look drunk or is it just Keith?).

 

“I never said I was drawing your eye.”

 

“You said-”

 

“I know what I said dammit!” Keith snaps, “Just let me draw!” 

 

“Okay,” Lance laughs poking Keith’s cheek, “Just draw, I wanna see your art.”

 

“It’s not going to be good,” Keith states, “I haven’t drawn since last year.”

 

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Lance reassures, “You are going to be amazing I’m sure of it.”

 

Keith continues to draw, forming the eye from memory. When he’s finished, he sets the pencil down and hesitates. There’s a lot of mistakes, and it by far will never be able to replicate the original beauty of Lance’s eyes. What if Lance doesn’t like it? 

 

Before Keith can do anything, Lance looks over Keith’s shoulder and gasps when he sees the drawing.    
  


“Keith…”

 

“I know it’s the greatest but-”

 

“Keith, it’s beautiful,” Lance says as he runs his hand over the drawing, trying to run his fingers across every line, “You’re amazing.” 

 

Keith blushes closing the sketchbook and setting it on the table, “Thanks.”

 

Lance grabs Keith’s face, forcing their eyes to meet. Keith stares at Lance who gives him a lopsided smile. Oh, he’s drunk alright. Keith pushes away the glass as far as possible with his foot as Lance tilts his head at Keith. 

 

“You don’t think you’re amazing do you? But that’s okay, because I think you are, and one day you’ll realize how amazing you are.”

 

Keith laughs, “Okay.”

 

‘I’m serious,” Lance drawls, “You’re…”

 

Lance pulls Keith’s face into his and presses his mouth against Keith’s. Immediately, Keith’s skin feels like electricity, as if everywhere they touched, sparks ignited. At the same time, Keith’s heart jolts. He doesn’t move at first, frozen from the shock, but then he relaxes and kisses Lance back. 

 

Lance pulls back and turns away from Keith, his face reddening as he scratches the back of his neck. He seems to be making himself smaller as he sinks into the couch. 

 

“Sorry, I guess I’m a little drunk…” Lance apologizes. 

 

Keith takes Lance’s hand giving him a smile, “I don’t mind.”

 

Lance raises an eyebrow, “You don’t…?”

 

A small part of Keith is screaming at him to stop, asking him what the hell he is doing, but Keith ignores that voice, because the moment Lance’s lips connected with his, something clicked, and suddenly a puzzle has been solved and the sky is clear. For Keith came to realize he’s in love with Lance in that moment. And he has been for a long time, and that he needed that spark to realize that. 

 

Keith nods, “I liked it. Kissing you.”

 

Keith leans forward and pecks Lance’s cheek, mostly just to tease the brunet. In response, Lance takes Keith’s face in his hands and their lips collide once again. The spark returns only this time Keith is ready for it and he welcomes it as he kisses Lance back. Lance’s lips are slightly chapped, but Keith doesn’t care, he’s a great kisser. And he hasn’t kissed anybody in over a year. 

 

Keith leans back until his back hits the cushions of the couch and Lance climbs on top, sliding himself between Keith’s legs as he shifts his hands from Keith’s face to Keith’s hips, sliding his hand underneath Keith’s shirt. Keith in response tugs on Lance’s hair ,and man, when was the last time he’s ever felt this happy? 

 

Keith moans into the kiss as their lips part and tongues dance, fighting for dominance. Keith resists the urge to take out his fangs and bite Lance. Instead, the teasing motherfucker teeths Keith’s lips before pulling away. A trail of saliva forms between their lips as they part before it breaks. Lance’s eyes are dilated and sure, he’s a bit drunk, but he seemed to have sobered up now cause he looks at Keith with such fond eyes he could just melt under the those blue eyes. 

 

When Keith finally catches his breath he takes Lance’s face in his hands and kisses him sweetly. “The bed?” he asks.

 

“The bed,” Lance agrees.

 

\---

 

The rest of that night was spent with the two making out, hands roaming over each other as they explored every part of their bodies until they fell asleep. Keith doesn’t every single detail, he felt as drunk as Lance was from the flaming passion the two shared but it was certainly, the best night Keith has had in years. 

 

When he wakes up next to Lance, Lance peppers him with kiss before the two groggily get out of breakfast and eat. Keith is craving blood and Lance happily provides him blood. Instead of sitting on the counter, Keith hoists Lance up against the wall as the human ride his knee as he bites into Lance’s shoulder and draws blood. 

 

It’s a familiar routine, and yet everything is different. 

 

When Keith finishes, Lance kisses him on the lips, not caring that he’s kissing his own blood and lets Keith bandage him before setting him back on the bed. The two of them spend the rest of the morning laying on their backs in their shared bedroom, looking up at the ceiling and talking about trivial things. 

 

Eventually, Lance takes Keith’s hand and intertwines them. Keith is overjoyed as Lance brings Keith’s hand to his lips, and kisses it briefly before turning to his lover, that fond look he’s been unable to change since the night before still there.

 

“How about we go out somewhere tonight after work, just you and me, the movies, dinner, a walk in park, whatever you wanna do,” Lance suggests.

 

“Like a date?” Keith asks cuddling up to Lance.

 

“If you want it to be.”

 

“A moonlit walk through the park sounds nice,” Keith says. 

 

“Consider it done babe,” Lance kisses Keith’s hand, “When you get home from work we’ll go.”

 

All through Keith’s shift, he feels like he’s on cloud nine. He’s smiling to himself his mind wandering over to the thought of the date coming right after. He’s too obvious, Hunk teases him constantly about it throughout the shift and of course, he knows it’s related to Lance, he’s believed they’ve been dating for months. 

 

Which is why Keith finds it amusing when Hunk’s jaw drops after he tells him they  _ just _ got together. 

 

“Seriously? When?” Hunk asks, eyes wide.

 

“Last night,” Keith answers.

 

“Who confessed first? I need to know all the juicy details.”

 

Keith turns around, smirking, “I don’t kiss and tell.”

 

“Fine, then, I’m calling Lance to tell me.”

 

“Okay,” Keith muses to himself as he prepares a drink, “I’m sure he’s  _ dying _ to tell you anyways.”

 

“Keith! Please! Just tell me!” Hunk whines.

 

Keith laughs, “Nope.”

 

“Excuse me sir.”

 

Keith’s good mood immediately shatters when he hears that familiar voice. Keith freezes, his blood freezing as he turns to the direction of the voice. Please not be him. Please not be him. Please-

 

Keith curses under his breath as sure enough, it’s him, the man he’s hope to have never seen again, who was presumed dead until Keith saw him in the streets yesterday. 

 

The clan’s boss who is smiling sweetly at Keith as he finally captures Keith’s attention. He looks the same as ever. Beautiful, tan, handsome with that white hair tied up in a ponytail and wearing normal clothes. Keith’s smile drops and he turns to him. He doesn’t look like he recognizes Keith at all so Keith plays along. 

 

“What can I do for you today sir?”

 

“Three whiskeys and uhh the special today,” his boss states as he turns to a table behind, “It’s all for those lovely ladies over there.”

 

Keith’s eyes shift over to the table and recognizes the people he’s talking about by their characteristic white hair. He remembers them all, Ezor, Zethrid, Acxa is nowhere to be seen, but Keith didn’t expect her to be around. Not after that fateful night…

 

Flashes of blinding lights, men in capes and fires engulfing the forest briefly flashes before Keith’s eyes before he takes the order. So far so good, the boss has yet to recognize anything about Keith, nor has he acknowledged him as one of his own. 

 

Keith is relieved, and to his surprise when he delivers the drinks to them, none of his personal bodyguards recognize him, They all are laughing and having a good time as they take their drinks and thank Keith. Their boss leaves Keith’s change. When Keith returns to the counter he releases a sigh of relief. He didn’t even realize he was holding his breath.

 

“Hey,” Hunk hands Keith a black bag, “Mind taking this out in the back?”

 

Keith takes the bag, “Sure.”

 

As Keith heads out the alleyway to throw the bag into the dumpster, he reminds himself that after work, he’ll be reunited with Lance again. He’ll get to kiss those freckles, he’ll be able to gaze into blue eyes and run his hands through Lance’s soft hair. Once he leaves, his encounter with his boss won’t matter anymore. 

 

Keith lifts the dumpster lid and throws the garbage inside. He blushes just thinking about it.  _ A date _ . He couldn’t believe it, A year ago he was trapped in a toxic relationship being held hostage in a villainous organization, and look where he is,  _ he’s in love _ . 

 

“Hello Keith, it is nice to see you again.”

 

Keith turns around to find his boss leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. His guards are nowhere to be seen but they have to be close by. He’s no fool, he’s the smartest man Keith has ever met. Keith feels the fear starting to settle back in. 

 

“Likewise, Lotor.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For updates follow my [tumblr](https://rosiekeith.tumblr.com)!
> 
> Thanks for reading, comments are always appreciated <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy~

He remembers the first Lotor took him inside his chamber. 

 

For once they weren’t camping out in the woods but they were in a luxurious hotel. Lotor had taken a fancy suite and had invited Keith to come up with him.

 

Keith had come to the conclusion upon hearing those words that he’s going to murder the boss that night. He was going to kill him and then escape to his freedom. He’s been wanting it since forever. Freedom. Revenge. It was the same to him at that time, before he met Lance. 

 

Keith was hiding a silver knife in his pocket when he walked with Lotor to his room. Keith had found it odd that there was nobody looking out for them, everybody seemed to be enjoying their time at the hotel. He had spotted a group of the clan at the pool enjoying themselves. 

 

They walked side by side in silence. Keith scanning every single detail, the closest exits, windows, calculating the fastest escape routes. 

 

Finally, they reached Lotor’s room and Lotor promptly opened it after sliding a card into its slot. The room exactly like how he’d expect Lotor’s room would look. Gothic, and yet pleasing with red undertones. 

 

Keith ran his hand along the dresser and got stopped by Lotor, who took his wrist. Keith’s gasped at the sudden action and looked up at Lotor who was smiling down at him. 

 

“In just a month you’ve done amazing things for the clan,” Lotor said, “I’ve never seen a new vampire with as much talent. Raids, recruitment, robbery, everything. You’re outstanding.”

 

Keith twitched. He’s murdered people in the name of the clan. People he didn’t know. People who could’ve been innocent for all what Keith knew. This was wrong. He shouldn’t be forced to do this. Keith felt that knife burning in his back pocket as Lotor rattled on. 

 

“I knew there was something special about you the moment I first laid eyes on you,” Lotor admitted, “And everyday you prove it more and more.”

 

Keith paused looking at Lotor with confusion. What the hell was he on?

 

“And there isn’t much opportunity for me to have intimacy often. There hasn't been anybody, not in a long time. But you, the moment I laid eyes on you I’ve fallen in love. So please, if you’ll let me,” Lotor’s forehead rested against Keith’s his peppermint breath fanning against Keith’s face, “If you’ll allow it, spend the night with me.”

 

Keith gritted his teeth. This evil bastard. The manipulative son of a bitch. Keith reached into his back pocket, ready to strike him. He just needed the right opportunity. 

“I know you’re not interested, and that you probably hate me but-- my feelings are genuine Keith. I do have feelings for you, and together with you at the head alongside me--

 

Keith grabbed the collar of Lotor’s shirt and dragged him into a kiss. Perfect. He has created the distraction in order to slain the devil. Keith smiled to himself as he continued making out with Lotor, reaching for his knife. He took it out and was ready to plunge it into Lotor’s when his eyes fell on something strange. Keith’s eyes widened when his recognized it, and he dropped the knife.

 

There sticking out of a frame between the dresser and the desk was a letter addressed to him. Entranced, Keith broke the kiss and approached it. When he got close to the letter, Keith reached out to take it. Suddenly the knife he’d been holding got ripped out and Keith’s body was slammed against a wall, his face crashing into the rough irritating surface of the maroon wallpaper. Keith cried out in pain as he struggled to break free but alas the person holding him down was stronger than him, which meant they couldn’t be human, because no human was strong enough to something like this. 

 

Keith groaned in pain as Lotor pressed his mouth against Keith’s ear and growled, “It’s a good thing that I am the smartest person I know, or else you’ll be walking tonight with blood on your hands.” Keith squirmed trying to loosen Lotor’s grip but it was no use. He was trapped. “And I  _ hate _ non-human blood. So listen here: you are not going to kill me. You are to never attempt to plot against me again. If you do....” Keith starts to feel a burning sensation on the back of his neck and he knows his own knife is being used against him, “Things will not end well for you. Are we clear?” 

 

“Fuck you,” Keith growled. 

 

“Are we clear?” Lotor repeated, digging the knife deeper into Keith’s neck. 

 

“Yes, yes!” Keith cried out, feeling tears stream down his face from the excruciating pain. His skin felt like it’s on fire at this point and all he wanted was to break free from Lotor. 

 

The knife was removed from Keith’s neck and Lotor shoved Keith away from him. Keith stumbled forward and nearly ran into the bedpost. 

 

“I hope you’ve learned your lesson,” Lotor growled, “Cause the next time you disobey me, you  _ will _ pay for it.” 

 

Keith nodded, rubbing the burning spot on the back of his neck, “Yes, sir.”

 

Lotor approached Keith and tentatively lifted his face. The anger Lotor had earlier had completely vanished and was replaced with a soft and gentle one. Keith was disgusted with how quickly this man changed expressions. 

“I’m sorry for hurting you but it had to be done,” Lotor apologized, “Let me make it up to you.”

 

Keith gritted his teeth, “There is  _ nothing _ you can do to ‘make it up’ to me.”

 

Lotor smiled sinisterly, “We’ll see about that.”

 

Keith closed his eyes, fear welling up inside of him, unsure of what was about to happen.

 

And that was when he felt lips on his. Keith immediately froze and wanted to push Lotor away but he was afraid if he did, Lotor will kill him. Not like it mattered, it was just a kiss. When Lotor pulled away, Keith didn’t meet his eyes, choosing to look away. 

 

It was at that very moment Keith got rid of every feeling, all of his anger, all of the joy, all of his fear. He was going to survive being with the clan he shouldn’t feel a thing. 

 

And so, before Lotor could utter a word, Keith took Lotor’s face for the second that time that night and kissed him but this time, he wasn’t going to kill Lotor. 

 

\--

 

“Hello Keith, it is nice to see you again,” Lotor smiles that familiar manipulative smile Keith has grown to hate with a burning passion.

 

“Likewise, Lotor,” Keith replies, hoping that the fear he feels isn’t written across his face.

 

Lotor eyes Keith up and down, “So you’ve resorted to  _ this _ , blending in with the humans.”

 

Keith ignores Lotor’s comment turning back to the bar. 

 

Lotor stops him with a single sentence, “If you join us again, we can protect you.”

 

Keith pauses and turns around.

 

“You know about it right? The hunters? They’re after the strays in this city. Apparently, this place is crawling with them. We’ve been looking for them too, trying to get them to join the clan, all we need to do is grant them asylum and they join like  _ that _ ,” Lotor snaps his fingers, “It’ll be just like old times, what do you say?”

 

Keith shakes his head, “No thanks, I have a date tonight.”

 

Lotor laughs, “You think that precious human of yours is going to protect you? I can’t believe you’ve stooped to the level of living with one of them. You’ll learn your lesson soon enough. And when you do, you’ll come back to my arms.”

 

Lotor turns around walks out. Once he’s gone, Keith drops to his knees, his entire body shaking. He fights back tears. He couldn’t believe it. The nerve he had. To ask Keith to join the clan again. To mock him for falling in love with a human and living with them. 

 

Keith wobbles as he stands up and trudges back home. When he arrives at the apartment, Lance is waiting for him with open arms but is faced with a frightened Keith.

 

“Oh no,” Lance face falls as he rushes over to Keith, “what happened…?”

 

When Keith makes eye contact with Lance he completely breaks down, tears spilling down his face. 

 

“Hey, hey it’s okay,” Lance guides a stumbling Keith over to the couch and sits him down. He then proceeds to hug Keith, rubbing his back soothingly. Keith cries into Lance’s shoulder and the brunet lets him. “Tell me what happened.”

 

Keith pulled away, wiping a tear away, “There is something you should know…”

 

Lance freezes up, his face hardening, “What is it?”

 

And so Keith tells Lance everything. Lance had already known about Lotor, but he didn’t know the extent of their relationship, and the events that have unfolded during Keith’s time with the clan.  He tells him about the first night with Lotor and the many nights that followed. He tells him about how Lotor has always been in love with him and often manipulated Keith to do what he wanted. He tells Lance about how he lost himself with the clan, all of the violence and horrible things he’s done. It’s too much for Keith, telling the entire story to Lance brings up several repressed memories that he has. The pain he has felt from all the trauma comes flooding and he can barely handle it. Keith breaks down, his sentences start to cut off as he silences himself, unable to say anything more. 

 

And through it all Lance is comforting. He hugs Keith, kissing his forehead, he tells him reassuring things, he soothes him with his singing. Lance sometimes takes his lover’s hand and runs a soothing thumb over the back of his hand, all in an effort to make Keith feel better. And it works, and Keith manages to get through it all. When he gets to the events of today, Lance tenses.

 

“I bet you hate me,” Keith sighs after he finally calms down from everything, “I’ve done horrible things, you have to.”

 

Lance shakes his head, “I can never hate you. You were forced into doing these things.”

 

“But--”

 

“No buts,” Lance takes Keith’s hand, “I love you too much to believe you’re anything but a good person. The past is the past, you’re a different person now.”

 

Keith nods. Lance is right. Things are different now, “You’re right.”

 

“I always am,” Lance smiles as he teasingly kisses the corner of Keith’s lips, “Now how about we forget about all the traumatic things happening lately and just make out?”

 

“But what about the hunters and Lotor?”

 

“The solution is simple: the city isn’t safe for you anymore. We’ll move out. Tomorrow we can start looking for a new city to move to. For now, let’s just enjoy each other’s company.”

 

Lance moves in to kiss Keith but Keith pushes Lance away, his mind spinning, “Wait,  _ move _ ? Are you serious? Where are we going to find the money? And are you sure you want to move out of the city? Isn’t this rash?”

 

“With your old clan around and the hunters already suspecting you, it is no longer safe for you to be around. It’s only a matter of time.” Lance cups Keith’s face lovingly, “I’m trying to protect you like I always have.”

 

“But Lance,” Keith protests, “Are you sure? You’ve been here for so long, I don’t want you throwing everything away just for me.”

 

Lance smiles as if that is the dumbest thing he’s ever heard, there’s so much love in Lance’s eyes, Keith is blown away, “I don’t care, as long as I get to be with you. Just trust me. Do you trust me?”

 

Keith places his hand on top of Lance’s, “I trust you.”

 

“Good.” Lance moves his hand to the back of Keith’s head and pulls him in for a kiss. This time, Keith kisses Lance back.    
  


Lance is right, it’s not safe for him to be here anymore, and the best option is to leave. And as much as he doesn’t want Lance giving everything up for him, he’s grateful that Lance is coming with him. He doesn’t think he can be on his own again. His time running away from the clan as a homeless person was just as tragic as his time with the clan, and Lance has helped Keith back on his feet. Without Lance, Keith might as well be dead. 

 

It was raining, and Keith was cold and hungry. He wandered the streets lost in thought. His clothes were soaking wet, he had no umbrella and was using his shredded backpack as a horrible attempt to keep himself dry. At least it was late in the night where few people were around. The temptation to suck someone’s blood out was strong. If somebody got too close, he may take advantage of them. 

 

Keith was beginning to hallucinate, he knew that. His mind was playing tricks on him, flashes of light and random images floated around in his blurry vision. He wasn’t even sure if the street he was walking down was even real. Keith dove into a dark alley that looked good enough for him to spend the night in. It was by what Keith presumed was a coffee shop that had already been closed for the night. If he woke up before the sun rose, he may even be able to leave before anybody stepped foot in there. 

 

So Keith took out his shabby blanket and curled in on himself, shivering in the rain. People were passing by on the street and the smell of blood was so overwhelming, Keith had to restrain himself. He closed his eyes, hoping that he could live another night in the streets before he had to find a way to sustain himself.

 

He’s found that squirrels are an okay substitute, but they never last as long as human blood. Besides, it was hard to find squirrels in urban areas. He’ll have to find something else, but he was running out of time. If anything, he could probably break into a blood bank but that was his last resort, and taking blood from a human was  _ not _ an option.

 

_ Please, let me see another sunrise _ . Keith begged as he began to fall asleep. 

 

Suddenly, a commotion coming from the direction of the coffee shop snapped Keith awake. He was alert, his senses hyper aware of the human exiting the back of the coffee shop and locking up. Keith sat up and tilted his head, trying to listen in. Whoever was closing up shop, was male and a good singer for he was singing a song to himself. The guy seemed to be in a bright mood.  Curiosity got the best of Keith and he leaned forward to see whoever it was. 

 

The male was attractive with tan skin, brown hair and blue eyes that remind Keith of the sky. Just as Keith had suspected, he was in a bright mood, singing and swaying his hips as he closed the shop and grabbed his umbrella from his backpack before heading out, probably going home since it was so late. Towards Keith’s direction. As the man walked by, their eyes locked. 

 

Keith gasped and quickly moved back before holding his breath but it was too late: the man had already seen him. The man paused in front of Keith, his face full of concern.

 

“Are you okay?” the man asked. 

 

Keith looked up at the man before turning away shaking his head. His vampire senses were starting to kick in, and his blood smelled  _ so good _ . But he had to resist. He promised himself he’ll never take a drop of human blood again, not without consent. 

 

“You shouldn’t be out here in the rain,” the man said sizing Keith up, “And uh, you don’t look like a crackhead.” He paused and bit his lip, contemplating something before speaking, “I don’t normally do this, but I’d hate to see such a pretty face as yours out here suffering. You must be hungry as well. C’mon,” the man offered his hand, “I’ll bring you home, you can get washed up, get some nice clothes, warm up food and you can spend the night in warm blankets. How does that sound?”

 

Keith stared at the hand for a few seconds before looking up. He had a nice welcoming smile, that looked sincere. There was no malicious intent behind them, like Lotor’s. Shelter? Food? This guy was either secretly a serial killer or an idiot. 

 

“You’re an idiot,” Keith replied, “I could rob you or worse, kill you in your sleep.”

 

The guy laughed, “You’re right, but I think there’s no harm in giving somebody a chance. Innocent until proven guilty right?”

 

“You’re too trusting,” Keith commented, “I’m starting to think you’re not real but a fragment of my imagination.”

 

He laughed again, “Consider me your guardian angel then.” He winked jokingly. “But I’m real alright. The name’s Lance and yours?”

 

“Keith,” Now Keith was chuckling, despite the fact that it kind of hurt because he was so hungry. Oh, he was so hungry, that he wanted to take Lance and suck him dry right then and there. 

 

“The offer is still up,” Lance said, “Going once, going twice--

 

“Sold,” Keith replied taking the hand, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

 

“Oh, I’m scared,” Lance chuckled as he helped Keith stand on his feet, “It’s not like you’re a vampire or something.”

 

_ You have no idea _ . Keith thought to himself as he followed Lance to his place.

 

\--

 

Keith wakes up with the sun filtering in through the curtains on Lance’s bed again, this time completely naked and alone. Keith lies there in the comfort of the bed, staring up at the ceiling and thinking about the night before. To think that a year ago they were strangers and now, they’re making love, Keith still finds it unbelievable. If one asked the Keith from a year ago he’ll find happiness again, he wouldn’t believe it and yet, here he is, smiling and content in a bed, and in love. Assuming that Lance is in the bathroom, Keith waits for him to return to bed, absentmindedly tracing the several marks all over his body. 

After a few minutes, he realizes Lance is not coming back to bed, and since he’s already awake, Keith gets out of bed and collects the articles of clothing that had been tossed the night before, before proceeding to put them back on. As Keith pulls up his pants, he sees a yellow-lined sheet of paper on the nightstand. Keith picks up the note and reads it.

 

**_I had to go to work but I will be back by 5. You know where everything is. Try not to get kidnapped/killed before I return home, okay? We can start apartment hunting when I’m home. Te quiero mi corazón! XX -Lance_ **

 

Keith smiles as he sets the note and realizes he’s feeling a bit hungry. He knows there are still some packets of blood in the apartment but he doesn’t remember. When he gets to the kitchen Keith starts to search for the packets, but with no luck, he can’t find it. 

 

Keith bends over and opens up one of the more hidden cabinets and finally, a packet of blood greets Keith. He takes the packet but something else in there catches Keith’s attention. 

 

“That’s funny,” Keith says, “I’ve never seen this safe before.”

 

Curious, Keith takes out the safe. He looks at the safe. It’s about the size of a briefcase and is protected with a simple padlock, with the key already inserted inside. Keith turns the key and unlocks the safe. He probably shouldn’t be doing this, but frankly, Lance shouldn’t be keeping safes in obvious places and leave the key that opens it inside the lock. 

 

When he opens it, Keith’s eyes widen at the items before him. There at the top of the pile is a familiar set of throwing knives made out of silver. But that’s not all. Below the knives is a black cloak that brings back disturbing memories. But that’s not the thing that catches Keith’s attention. There’s a photograph framed in a beautiful blue frame. There are four people in the photograph. 

 

Front and center is Lance in a tuxedo smiling at the camera. Keith has never seen him look so happy. Next to him, is a girl he’s holding hands with who is absolutely beautiful. She has beautiful dark skin, long brown hair, and eyes as bright as Lance’s. She’s wearing a purple dress. It’s obvious that the two used to be lovers. Keith’s heart slightly broke looking at the picture, They looked so in love, what had happened to them? But when he turned to the others in the photograph his stomach dropped. 

 

On the other side of the couple are two familiar people. One is a tall strong guy with an undercut. He too is dressed in a tuxedo and looks happy, his arm around Lance’s shoulder.  _ Shiro _ , the vampire hunter, and the other side leaning into the girl is Matt, the other vampire hunter. As if Keith wasn’t already feeling sick, there’s a tiny sticky note attached to the bottom corner of the frame in familiar handwriting, for he had just read a note from the same person. 

 

**_Vampire slaying squad! The best of the best! My two best friends, Shiro and Matt and my lovely fiance, Allura_ ** .

 

Keith feels his blood boil as he looks at the photograph. Lance  _ knows _ them, used to be friends with them, and is a vampire hunter himself? Keith grits his teeth. And to believe he’s fallen for this guy when all this time he could have been looking for an opportunity to slay him. 

 

He was going to start a new life with him, run away from his problems. Turns out, his problem has been with him all this time. 

 

“Hey babe!” Lance chirps as he enters the apartment, “Work let me out early so I immediately down here! We can start looking at apartments,” the human freezes when he sees Keith standing with the frame in his hand and the safe lying there in the open, “If...you’d like…”

 

“How dare you,” Keith growls slamming the frame on the counter. 

 

Lance immediately raises his hand in defense backing away from Keith, “I didn’t want you to find out this way, but I swear, I am not the same person I was in that photograph.”

 

“How do I know that?” Keith grits his teeth, “How do I know that you weren’t secreting plotting to kill me, huh?”

 

“Cause I’m not!” Lance replies, “I never was going to!” His face falls as he looks to the side, “Not after what happened with Allura…”

 

“When were you going to do it? When we “moved out”?” Keith laughs, “You’re despicable.”

 

“Please Keith, I know you’re feeling betrayed, but please listen to me,” Lance begs. 

 

“Betrayed?” Keith scoffs, “Lance I loved you _. I trusted you _ . How could you hide this from me?”

 

“Because this was exactly what I was afraid of,” Lance admits softly.

 

“Please,” Keith begs ripping the cloak from the suitcase and shaking it, he can feel the tears starting to stream down his face. “Please tell me this is some sort of cruel joke, and you’re really not-- you were never one of  _ them _ .” 

 

When their eyes meet, Keith realizes Lance is crying as well, “I’m sorry, Keith.”

 

Keith shakes his head as he grabs his backpack and begins to take whatever he can fit inside the backpack, “Well, I’m sorry too.”

 

“Keith wait,” Lance begs, “Let me explain.”

“No,” Keith shakes his head, “I don’t want to hear it.”

 

With a speed he’s never witnessed before, Lance grabs Keith’s wrist. A memory flashes through his mind.

 

The night of the attack. Bodies all over the ground, and a cloaked figure backflipping and seamlessly slitting another one member of the clan’s throat with unprecedented speed. Keith witnessed it all, frozen in his hiding spot. 

 

The hood fell back a bit, and a tuff of brown could be seen for a split second before the person pulled it back to its spot and headed deeper into the base of the clan. 

 

It was Lance all along. He was the one Keith had witnessed slaughter all those vampires. 

 

“Please,” Lance begs again.

 

“Go to hell,” Keith growls, pushing Lance away.

 

And like that, he steps out of the apartment and doesn’t look back. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For updates follow my [tumblr](https://rosiekeith.tumblr.com).
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments are always appreciated! <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

“Hello! Welcome to VC Blood Bank Center, are you interested in donating blood today?” the attendant says in a shrill voice smiling at Keith.

 

“Uh,” Keith looks at the attendant feeling uncomfortable, “I need blood.”

 

The girl nods, “May I see some ID before we proceed?”

 

Keith nods handing the girl a card. She takes it and skims the card before smiling. 

 

“Right this way sir,” she says stepping out from the desk and leading Keith towards the back.

 

Keith follows her keeping a distance. Vampire Center Banks are neutral and have no affiliation with clans, but that doesn’t mean he should trust her. 

 

“You need to dye your hair again by the way,” the attendant comments, “Your roots are starting to show.”

 

Keith hasn’t dyed his hair since before he discovered the truth about Lance and abruptly left him. Part of it was because he left all of his dye in his room but it’s mostly because he’s had no time to. 

 

It’s already been a month since that fateful day. He’s been bouncing between motels, scavenging for money and collecting his packet of blood from the banks. He hasn’t left the city yet, he needs more money before he can move out and find a city that has the resources this current one has. 

 

“Thanks, any recommendations?”

 

“If you go to Sally’s on fifth avenue, they sell nice dye for cheap prices,” the attendant says. She lifts a strand of her red hair, “That’s where I got the dye for this color. Tell the rest of your clan about the place, it’ll be great for business.”

 

“Sure thing.”

 

“What clan are you apart of anyways?” she asks inserting a card into a slot and promptly opening a door, “There seems to be a lot of them traveling by recently. Are you apart of the White Fangs? Or are you with the Blood Roses?”

 

Keith doesn’t answer the question, and the conversation is dropped. The attendant instructs Keith to take a seat and he does. She takes out a clipboard and hands it to him. 

 

“We just need you to fill out these papers, and then we can give you blood.”

 

Keith takes the clipboard and skeptically looks down at the paper, “You didn’t require this last week.” 

 

She shrugs, “Well, protocols have changed since. We now require your information before we can supply blood.”

 

“Why?” Keith asks.

 

“Because there’s been a rise of clan activity and vampire hunters here, we need to keep track of vampires as much as we can before something bad happens--”

 

Keith snarls baring his fangs, “This is absolute bullshit.”

 

“Take it or leave it sir, but no papers, no packets, no blood.”

 

Keith grumbles as he begins to fill out the form. He leaves most of it blank and then proceeds to hand it back to her.

 

“Here,” he says.

 

“Thank you,” she says, “Wait here while we process the forms and get your packet of blood.” 

 

As she steps out of the room, promptly closing the door behind her. Keith leans back and exhales against his chair. He hates this. Being a stray without a clan is difficult as it is. Now that he doesn’t have Lance and had to quit his job, he’s been struggling even more. The money he has had been used to pay for his time at motels, but he can never stay too long at one place, either Lotor’s clan or the hunters will eventually catch him and he doesn’t know which one he would prefer. He’d be dead either way. Maybe the hunters will spare Keith and show him mercy by giving him a quick painless death, unlike the clan who will torture him until he dies of starvation, thirst and a long, agonizing death. Oh yeah, he definitely does not want to get caught by the clan. 

 

But he’s also been avoiding Lance. If he sees anybody who looks remotely like him, Keith dodges into the closest alley, or walks in another direction, hoping that Lance doesn’t see him. He’s probably being paranoid and that every time he thinks he sees Lance, it’s not actually him, but Keith would rather not take that risk. 

 

Keith takes out his phone and is greeted with five unread messages. 

 

**Lance: Hey, I hope you’re doing okay.**

**Lance: I know you’re not reading this and you’re ignoring me but…**

**Lance: I just want you to know you’re always welcome back**

**Lance: And that I’m sorry for hiding my past from you**

**Lance: And that I love you.**

 

It’s been like this since the day Keith left Lance. Throughout the day he’d send texts asking if everything is alright, that he’s sorry and that Keith can come back anytime. He sometimes calls too and leaves voicemails with similar messages. He knows that he should’ve blocked Lance’s number a long time ago but he can’t bring himself to. Despite everything Keith still loves Lance and those messages have kept him motivated this entire time. They’ve kept him on track, there is no telling what could have become of Keith without Lance’s unwavering love for Keith. 

 

Keith grits his teeth as he marks the messages as read and shoves his phone back into his pocket. Even when Lance is not around, he manages to keep Keith on his feet. For a second, Keith considers taking his phone and responding, but then he remembers he’s never texted back before and that’ll be strange so he decides against it. 

 

The door opens and the girl steps inside with a box. She hands it to Keith with a fake smile. 

 

“Thank you for your patience, you’re free to go.”

 

“Thank you,” Keith says as he stands up and hands out of the room.    
  


“By the way,” the girl adds, stopping Keith in his tracks, “Starting next week we’re going to start charging for your blood.”

 

Keith nods, “Got it.”

 

“Just so you understand, this city has become a hub for vampires, and we are no longer able to provide for free, why should we when we can profit off of it?”

 

Keith rolls his eyes, “Okay, I got it.”

 

The girl sneers her fangs showing as she approaches Keith, “But it’s also because VC now belongs to the Blood Roses and we only provide free blood to our own members.”

 

Keith turns to the girl, anger rising in his chest, “Is that why you had me fill out the form? So that you can recruit people?”

 

“Policy is policy,” she wraps her arms around Keith’s neck and leans in too close for comfort, “I’m just following orders.  _ But, _ if you join us, you can continue to receive your blood for free.” She giggles as she runs her hand up and down Keith’s arm and gives him a flirtatious wink, “And other perks.” 

 

Keith shoves her off of him, “I’m not interested.”

 

“You’re a stray in a vampire-infested city with hunters milling about. You won’t last long out there on your own trying to live among the humans. Join us, we protect our own.”

 

Lotor used to say that to him. He used to give Keith the promise that he’s saving him from a worse fate. But it’s all empty promises. He’s been fooled once, but he won’t be fooled again. 

 

“I  _ said _ ,” Keith growls, “I’m not interested.” 

 

The girl hardens her face clearly not happy with Keith’s decision, “Fine then, have it your way, but if you get caught by hunters and your body is found, I’ll be the first one spitting on your corpse.”

 

“What is the worse they can do?” Keith snaps as he exits the room, “I’m already dead.” 

 

“You’ll regret this!” she shouts, “You’ll fucking regret it!”

 

Keith laughs again and turns to her smiling  with his fangs out, “I know won’t.”

 

Before exiting the bank, Keith stashes his box of blood into his backpack and steals a wad of cash from an unsuspecting victim’s wallet. Hey, he’s got to do what he needs to do in order to survive. 

 

Which brings him to his next order of business, finding a new blood bank. It’s a shame, blood banks aren’t supposed to be affiliated with clans, they’re supposed to be a safe place for everybody. He’ll need to look for another one. Or perhaps, it’s time for him to officially leave the city. 

 

Keith looks down at the cash he’s stolen and realizes he has enough money to buy a one-way ticket to city one over. Leaving the city it is then. 

 

Keith returns to his motel room and begins to pack his things. He doesn’t have much to begin with just a folder with important information about him, cash, his clothes, his phone charger and a knife. Keith packs everything, making sure it all fits in his backpack. Good, now it’s time to buy himself his ticket out of there. 

 

There is a public library across the street from the motel Keith had just been staying at and he heads over to use the public computers. He needs to print out his ticket which is something he can’t do with his phone. 

 

The library is mostly empty except for a small group of teenagers talking at a table on the second floor. Keith heads over to the section with the public desktops. There are other people there too, an old man scrolling through Facebook and a pair of tweens playing Minecraft. Keith takes the empty desktop in a corner hidden away from the others and any other prying eyes. 

Just as Keith is about to print out his ticket a commotion catches Keith’s attention. 

 

A group of newcomers had just entered the library a few minutes ago. At first, Keith didn’t pay any attention to them but suddenly, he notices something strange about them. They’re all wearing jackets, and while it’s already the fall, it isn’t that cold. Keith narrows his eyes and looks at the group of people.

 

All of them seem to be searching for something but when a librarian approaches them, they all dismiss the librarian and none seem to be looking at books. Instead, they seem to be studying each person in the library, pausing to look at somebody have a short conversation and then proceed to move on to the next person. 

 

And then, Keith spots them. Shiro and Matt on the opposite side of the library, talking with a teenager carrying books. Keith’s alarms go off, they’re  _ hunters _ . He should leave as soon as he can. Keith quickly presses print and logs off, gathering his things before rushing over to the printer. Keith pulls his hoodie up, covering his face as he grabs the sheet of paper and begins to head out.

 

“Hey, I know you.”   
  


Keith freezes in his tracks fear beginning to rise as he turns to the source of the voice. Shiro and Matt are standing before him both of their faces slightly agape. 

 

The one who had spoken was Matt who clears his throat, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound rude, you’re Lance’s boyfriend, right?”

 

Keith nods slowly. 

 

“How is he?”

 

“H-He’s fine…” Keith croaks. He hates lying but since Shiro and Matt are or at least  _ used  _ to be his friends, they must be curious about Keith as well.

 

Shiro smiles sadly, “That’s good, tell him we miss him, okay?”

 

Keith nods turning around, “Okay.”

 

He begins to head out when a question pops into his head. He still doesn’t know much about Lance and his time as a hunter and he knows it’s risky but…

 

“What happened to you guys?” Keith asks turning back to the pair, “I...saw a picture of you guys together and now, I didn’t even know you guys were friends until Lance told me that day you came over. He refuses to tell me anything.”

Matt and Shiro look at each other and Shiro nods turning back to Keith, “It’s a long story that you wouldn’t understand, but, after his fiance died… well, things have never been the same for anybody.”

 

“I see,” Keith says, “Well then have a nice day.”

 

“You too,” Matt says. 

 

Keith flees out of the library not daring to look back. His train doesn’t leave until it’s dark so if he hides somewhere before it’s time to go, perhaps he can avoid the hunters and safely leave the city. 

 

He is halfway crossing between an alleyway when suddenly arms are on him and he’s getting dragged away. Keith yelps as a blindfold are tied onto him. Keith struggles to get out of the captor’s hold, kicking biting and prying those hands off of him but he can’t. 

 

“Let me go!” Keith begs but nobody responds. 

 

Instead, a cloth is pressed against his nose and the darkness consumes Keith. 

 

Keith woke up in the middle of the night, every part of his body screaming to stay alert. Keith was confused for he had been inside a tent in the middle of the woods for a week now and he knew that nothing git passed the guards. Unable to sleep, Keith stepped out of the tent meeting the cool spring air. It was dark the only sources were coming from the moon, the stars and a few lanterns outside of the tents. It was quiet, aside from the occasional roar of the wind and animal mingling around the parameter. Keith, unable to sleep decided to go for a stroll around camp. 

 

He was still alert, and he was keeping his eyes and ears on everything but he was beginning to think it was just a trick in his head. Everything was calm, serene. 

 

Keith reached the edge of the camp where a stream was. Keith sat down on the ground and took off his shoes tipping his toes into the water. The cold water tickled Keith’s feet as he leaned back and looked up at the sky. In the middle of nowhere, where there was no light, the stars illuminated the night. 

 

It was a full moon, and it looked bigger than usual. In the distance, a wolf howled and Keith thought about the wolf for a moment. There were stories about werewolves, did they exist as well? If vampires did, and he was living proof, then werewolves had to as well. 

 

“Finally, I found you.”

 

Keith turned around to find Axca running over to him, with two backpacks over her shoulders. As soon as she reached Keith she dropped a bag on the ground. 

“C’mon, let’s get out of here,” Axca said.

 

Keith gave her a quizzical look, “Why? Wouldn’t we get stopped?”

 

“Do you see anybody around? If we go over that creek nobody will notice. It’ll be quick and easy.”

 

“Are you...sure…?” Keith asked as he took the backpack quizzicaly looking down at it, “What brought this on Axca?”

 

Axca looked around as if somebody could be listening before sitting down next to Keith, taking off her shoes and joining Keith, “Did you just wake up with a strange feeling? Like something was wrong?”

 

“You too?” Keith asked. 

 

“Yes, and my senses have never been wrong, something bad is about to happen and we need to get somewhere safe before it happens.”

 

Keith turned to the path that led to their camp, “But what about…”

 

“You’re the only one who will leave. Everybody is too loyal to the clan to just up and go,” Axca interrupted. Her violet eyes glowed in the moonlight as she looked at Keith, “Nobody will notice until.”

 

Before Keith could respond there’s the sound of somebody screaming and yelling. The two of them turn around to find that the forest was ablaze, the red flames licking the sky as it crackled in the night. 

 

“The camp!” Keith stood up, “We have to make sure they’re okay!”

 

Keith grabbed his bag and began to run towards the direction of the fire but a hand quickly stopped him.

 

“Wait, we shouldn’t go, this is a hunter raid,” Axca said, “We have to go now.”

 

“But--” Keith turned back to the fire, “We can’t just leave them.”

 

“And it isn’t going to do us any good if we stay and die, _ c’mon _ .” Axca pulled Keith away, “Before they find us.”

 

Keith stood his ground. Sure, he despised being apart of the clan but everyone except for Lotor had good intentions, they just needed a push in the right direction. They needed to see that the clan was not the resolution to their problems and that they themselves were the only ones who can better themselves.

 

The two of them locked eyes before Axca shook her head. She grabbed her backpack hopped over the creek and plunged into the darkness. Keith raced back to the campsite trying to not make a ruckus if Axca was right, he did not want to be found by the vampire hunters. When he got there he was met with a horrific scene.

 

The entire camp was fire, tents burning to the ground. People were running everywhere that Keith couldn’t tell whether or not they were running towards each other or fleeing from the fire. Keith was just about to join on the mess when he noticed one person, a cloaked figure running with a knife out, it’s silver glow shining in the light coming from the fire. 

 

Keith froze as he watched this cloaked figure dashed through the crowd slicing each vampire’s throats in one clean swipe. Bodies fell to the ground. The figure ran up the trunk of a tree and jumped back into the crowd slicing more vampires. The figure landed on the ground, their hood falling back a bit. For a brief second, a tuft of brown hair could be seen before the figure pulled their hood back to its original place.

 

The figure looked towards the direction of where Keith was standing. Keith jumped into the bushes and held his breath as he watched the person approach the bush. 

 

_ A vampire hunter _ . For the first time in months, Keith could feel his heart pounding in his chest violently. He watched with bated breath as the hunter took out his knife and began cutting through the vegetation. 

 

“I know you’re in there,” the hunter said, he must have been wearing a device that hid his voice because he sounded almost inhumane, a deep voice that will haunt Keith for nights to come. 

 

Keith backed away from the scene, hoping that the hunter will not hear him leaving. He glanced back at the burning campsite one last time and took a deep breath. 

 

The time has come. It’s time for him to leave the clan and return to society. 

 

Keith gripped his backpack and dived into the woods. His ran as fast as he can until his feet hurt and he could barely move. 

 

Not once did he look back.

 

When Keith opens his eyes, he’s met with a blinding light. Keith groggily shifts his hand only to find it restrained. A wave of panic washes over Keith as he struggles to break free. This feels eerily familiar. 

 

“Hello, Keith.”

 

Keith freezes as he looks up into the light. He can barely see anything but he knows who that voice belongs to. And he knows he’s somewhere in the room, watching, waiting.

 

“Lotor,” Keith grits his teeth.

 

“It’s good to have you back,” Lotor says, “I missed you.”

 

He steps into the light and Keith can see his face clearly. He’s smiling sinisterly and there are bags under his eyes as if he hasn’t slept in days. 

 

“I don’t,” Keith spats. 

 

“Liar!” Lotor yells slapping Keith’s face, “I’m the one who saved you from your terrible life, you should be grateful.”

 

“Saved me?! You ruined me,” Keith growls, ignoring the throbbing pain on the side of his face. 

 

“Oh, I’ll show you what ruining is.”

 

Lotor takes out a knife from his pocket and Keith’s eyes widen. It’s his knife, they must have scoured through his backpack. 

 

“Were you planning on leaving the city?” Lotor asks, pointing the weapon at Keith, “It’s a good thing we caught you before your departure. Now I got you all to myself.”

 

He runs the knife down Keith’s skin, leaving Keith’s flesh burning. Keith flinches as he’s knicked, on his forearm, blood spilling down. He knows when it dries, the sticky liquid will feel disgusting. 

 

Lotor continues to run the knife over Keith’s skin, knicking here and there and leaving Keith to bleed. By the time he is done, Keith is breathing heavily, the blood already beginning to cling to his skin in disgusting ways. 

 

Lotor laughs, “Oh this is just the beginning, I’m going to break you.”

 

Keith grits his teeth, “Fuck you.”

 

_ Slap _ . Lotor’s hand collides with Keith’s face. 

 

“You will not speak unless asked to.”

 

Keith grins, “You don’t control me.”

He feels a sharp pain in his jaw as Lotor punches. He then feels again as Lotor repeats the action. Again and again and again. By the time Lotor is done punching Keith, his entire face is throbbing and he thinks his nose is broken and judging by the overwhelming metallic taste in his mouth he’s also bleeding. 

 

Lotor grabs Keith’s collar and tugs him closer, “Would you like to test that theory?”

 

“No,” Keith chokes out, his jaw stinging as he attempts to talk.

 

“Good,” Lotor releases Keith and he flies back in his seat, the air in his lungs getting knocked out. 

 

Lotor’s fingernails dig into Keith’s burning skin and scratch him as Keith cries out in pain. Lotor kicks his shin making Keith cry out again. He then pushes the chair back and continues to kick Keith all over his body until Keith is doubled over in pain barely able to move. When the kicking stops. Keith tries to lift himself up but he’s so weak he ends up falling down on tee ground again, hissing in pain. Keith looks up to Lotor who is smiling down at Keith. He grits his teeth. 

 

“This… isn’t….over…” Keith gasps as he collapses again.

 

Lotor laughs as he kicks Keith. 

 

Keith rolls over onto his back and stares up at the light. His entire body feels numb, blood is everywhere and he knows that he’s going to die. Keith clenches his fist as he closes his eyes. 

 

_ If you’re going to kill me just finish me off _ . 

 

SIlence. Nothing happens. Keith opens his eyes and there’s a figure standing over him. 

 

“Don’t worry buddy,” a woman with a strong british accent says, “I got you.”

 

He feels his body being lifted off of the ground. Normally he would protest but he’s too weak to even move. Instead, Keith looks up at ceiling tears beginning to stream down his face. 

 

He feels a hand run through his hair as he hears a familiar voice, “It’s okay, Keith. You’re safe. No harm will come to you now.”

 

_ Lance…? _

 

Keith turns his head to find a pretty woman with luminous dark skin and flowy white hair. 

 

“No more harm will come to you,” she reassures cupping Keith’s face, “Rest.”

 

Keith closes his eyes embracing the warmth. 

 

When he wakes up, he’s covered up in bandages and some sort of ointment. He’s in a soft white cotton shirt and Batman pajama pants. It takes him an additional second to realize he’s on a bed. Keith springs up and looks around the room. It is mostly empty, aside from a table where his backpack lies on top of. Where is he? How did he get here? Why is he bandaged up? And most importantly, why isn’t he dead?

 

Keith gets out of bed and stumbles his way out of the mysterious room. When he steps out of the room, he is met with a narrow brightly lit hallway that infinitely stretches both ways. Nobody seems to be around. Keith decides to pick a side and see where it’ll take him. As Keith walks down, he holds onto the side of the wall to prevent himself from falling. 

 

“Oh, you’re awake.”

 

Keith stops and turns his head towards the direction of the voice.

 

An angel stands before him, in a beautiful white sundress long white hair and a gentle welcoming smile. Normally Keith would be cautious around other vampires but this one has a friendly appearance, Keith’s barriers immediately breaks away and he relaxes as soon as he makes eye contact with her sparkling blue eyes. She looks familiar, but then Keith quickly remembers she is the one who had ran her hands through Keith earlier when he had beaten up by Lotor after getting kidnapped. 

 

“I’m glad,” she continues, “We were beginning to think you were in a coma, despite your injuries healing so well, you were out for three days.”

 

_ Three days? _ “Where am I?” Keith demands, “Who are you? What happened? Where’s Lotor?”

 

The girl raises a hand politely asking Keith to calm. He does, quieting down as she replies, “You’re in a hospital wing, you were taken by the leader of the Brotherhood of Blood and horribly beaten. We’ve been keeping an eye of the activity of the BoB for months now, they’ve picked off young adults from the streets, kidnapped them, killed them, or enslaved them to the vampire life. You seemed to be in the middle of the process. Who knows what could have happened to you hadn’t we come to put a stop to the clan last night.”

 

Keith blinks, processing all the information, “But  _ who  _ are you? Why did you rescue me?”

 

She takes a step forward and takes Keith hand, “I understand everything is quite, overwhelming for you right now. Come with me and I will bring you to the common area, where everything will be explained to you. Are you hungry as well right? We have fresh human blood from our donors at the bank we run.”

Keith is still confused, but it seems like the only way he’ll get answers is if he complies to this woman’s wishes. It seems easy enough, she appears to be a nice person with no harm, probably the nicest vampire she’s come to known, even nicer than Axca was to him. 

 

“Okay,” Keith replies, “Take me there.”

 

“Great!” she claps her hands together in excitement, “Follow me and I’ll bring you to the common room.”

 

As they walk down the hallway, Keith realizes this vampire resembles more of a princess rather than an angel. She walks and moves gracefully, with such etiquette that Keith is amazed by how a vampire can be so graceful. 

 

She also looks awfully familiar, and it’s not just because he met her last night, no, he swears he’s seen this woman somewhere before, like a photograph… _ Lance _ . That reminds him, he could’ve sworn he heard Lance last night. Was he really there? A jolt runs down Keith’s spine and he freezes. Was it... _ Lance _ who saved him? Is that why he was able to be found? He’s a hunter he had to be good at keeping tabs on the constantly traveling clans. He could have contacted a friendly clan to keep an eye on Keith and make sure he’s okay. Anger begins to boil in Keith.  _ How dare him _ . 

 

Noticing that Keith has frozen, the woman turns around with worry written across her face, “Something wrong?”

 

Keith lifts a shakey accusing finger at her, “D-did Lance send you?”

 

The woman’s blue eyes widen, “Lance…?”

 

“The hunter, did he contact you? Send you to babysit me?”

 

The girl blinks again, her worried face turning more and more into a look of shock, “I do not know what you are talking about. I haven’t spoken with a Lance… not since…”Tears begin to spill out of her blue eyes and she shakes her head wiping them away with her wrist, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get so emotional. But nobody sent us. Like I said, we’ve been keeping tabs on the B.o.B for a long time, it was just a matter of luck.”

 

Keith relaxes at her words, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

 

“It’s fine,” she interrupts, “Let us continue.”

 

They walk in silence for a few more minutes until they finally reach a foyer with bustling people. Many other vampires are running around bossing others around, carrying supplies and clipboards or are just simply milling around. They walk through the middle and into the double doors. 

 

The common area looks like a bar lounge and a living room at the same time. It’s small, with a few tables, couches, a large counter with bottles of blood, and a fireplace that is currently off. There are a few people inside, chatting away but they all pause when the woman enters. 

 

“Allur--

 

“Please,” she blushes waving her hand in front of her face, “You do not need to do this everytime I enter the common area. I may be the leader of our organization, but I am your equal. I can introduce myself.”

 

She turns to Keith with a polite smile, her face still slightly red, “What is your name?”

 

“Keith.”

 

The woman indicates the room, “Everybody please stand up for Keith.”

 

Everybody complies with raising their glasses of blood to the air. 

 

“My name is Allura,” she continues, “And welcome to the Shelter For the Undead.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For updates follow my [tumblr](https://rosiekeith.tumblr.com).  
> Thanks for reading, comments are always appreciated! <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

“So, let me get this straight,” Keith says as he takes the offered glass of blood, “This isn’t a clan but a voluntary organization for rehabilitating vampires?”

 

“Pretty much yeah,” a vampire named Romelle answers, “Did I catch everything Allura?”

 

“Yes, yes you did,” Allura smiles placing her hand on Romelle’s shoulder, “Any other questions Keith?”

 

Keith stares at Allura examining her. It  _ has _ to be her, the girl from the photo. The one who Lance was engaged with, another vampire hunter, now turned into a vampire. What happened to her? Why did she and Lance split? Did it have to do with her turning? 

 

“It’s you isn’t it?” Keith asks, “The Allura from the photo.”

 

Allura gives Keith a puzzled look, “What photo?”

 

“The photo Lance had in a special safe. It was you wasn’t it? You were once engaged to him.”

 

Her face falls, “Yes, yes that was me.”

 

“You were a hunter.”

 

Romelle gasps, “You were a  _ what _ ?”

 

Allura smiles bitterly, twirling her finger in a strand of her white hair, “Yes, I used to be a hunter.”

 

The entire lounge falls quiet, listening into the shocking revelation.

 

“You know that I will never lie to any of you, but, I did keep some things away that may...have dampened our relationship. You must know that I haven’t slain a vampire...not since…”

 

“Last night...wasn’t the first time you raided the Brotherhood of Blood wasn’t?” Keith asks, “You’ve done it before.”

 

Allura nods, “Yes, it was over a year ago, back when I was still...well, it’s best if I started from the beginning isn’t it?”

 

Keith nods. 

 

Allura laughs looking down at the ground, “I’ve...never told this to anybody, but if you’ve been with Lance, well, you deserve to know.’ She takes Keith’s hand, her blue eyes staring at him softly, “How much has he told you?”

 

“Nothing,” Keith replies, “Everything I know is from a safe I found.”

 

“As I expected…” she sighs, “He was afraid of telling you his past most likely.” 

 

“Miss, who exactly is this Lance?” Coran asks, “You were engaged to him and you were hunters together? That is quite a story.”

 

“Lance...he’s the most dazzling human you’ll ever meet. Everything about him is magnetic and once you’ve been touched by him, you’re under his spell for his eternity.” She starts. 

 

She goes on to tell the story of Lance, of the hunters and the tragic story of her and Lance’s relationship. 

 

Lance is the son of the leaders of one of the oldest vampire slaying organizations on earth. Being the eldest son, he was expected to take over the clan one day and lead them. Their group still followed the old customs of those that were born into the organization spent the rest of their lives with the organization. Allura and their friends Matt and Shiro had also been born from families that were members of the organization. And so just like their families have been doing for generations, they dedicated their whole lives to the art of hunters. 

 

From a young age, the four of them had been trained to kill the undead. They moved frequently, due to following the migrating clans they tracked down, but none of them minded. In fact, they liked moving around a lot. It gave them the opportunity to travel across the country, see new places, meet new people. They collected buttons and pins from each city they visited and attached them to their bags and kept them as a reminder of the time they had spent there. 

 

It was clear by the time they were nearing the end of their elementary school years, that Lance was rising to be the leader he was meant to be. He was the fastest out of all the other children training, being able to move to a speed that was almost comparable to that of a vampire’s. He was agile, and when it came to using obstacles, Lance did not hesitate to use his surroundings to his advantage, being able to push off walls, jump off high places and move like there is no gravity. It was a fighting style nobody else had, one that many had tried to replicate, including his own friends and yet none could succeed, no matter how hard they tried. 

 

When they reached their adolescent years and were finally allowed to join hunts, it became clear that Lance wasn’t just good, he was possibly the best. 

 

It was the first mission they had. Lance and Allura were with an adult walking through the city block at night. Their mission was simple, they were given an anonymous tip of a vampire activity in the southern quadrant of the city, and they were to confirm the tip. There were no plans of engaging with vampires, but just in case, Allura had stowed a knife up the sleeve of her jacket and had a second one hidden in her boots. The others also had their weapons hidden somewhere on their bodies, ready for a fight. 

They were walking down the streets, Allura and Lance standing to next to each other. Allura was excited, it was their first mission, but Lance, he acted like he’s been on these missions before, surveying the surrounding area with a keen eye and a straight face. He looked confident, and Allura was impressed

 

“Wait,” their supervisor had said, holding out his arm and stopping the kids from going further, “Something is odd.”

 

Lance immediately drew his weapon and tossed his weapon into the alley next to them. 

 

The adult turned to Lance, furious, “You idiot! You do not just draw your weapon and toss it like that! We could be in serious danger and you just got rid of the only weapon that could--

 

There was the sound of a thud coming from the alley and the three of them turned to the direction in which the source of the sound came from. 

 

“Wait here,” their supervisor said, “And you,” he seethed jabbing a finger into Lance’s chest, “You better not have murdered a random civilian.”

 

As the supervisor rushed inside the dark alley to check. Lance had frowned. 

 

“I’m useless…” Lance began to tear up.

 

“Don’t say that,” Allura had placed a hand on Lance’s shoulder, “You just reacted. It’s your first, mistakes are bound to happen.”

 

Lance began to sniffle, tears streaming down his face, “I-I thought I thought something moved in there and I just did the first thing that came to my mind. It happened so fast I didn’t even--

 

“Well,” the supervisor stepped back into the street with Lance’s knife in his hand, “You lucked out kiddo. This knife went straight through the heart of one of those evil creatures. Impressive aim, and it looks like you saved our asses. I owe you an apology.”

 

Lance took the knife and stashed it back to where he’d been hiding it earlier, “No, I’m sorry, I did something rash and I shouldn’t have--

 

The supervisor laughed ruffling Lance’s hair, “Well, you took a step in the right direction. That’s not too bad in my book.”

 

Allura hadn’t mentioned it that night, but she too felt something tugging at her in the alley right before Lance had thrown that night. She would, later on, learn that her ancestors were witches and the only remaining magic that remained from the witches was the ability to detect vampires. And she would later learn that Lance knew that a vampire was there on their first mission because Allura glowed when a vampire was nearby. 

 

“What do you mean glow?” Matt had asked, “We’ve been near vampires hundreds of times and I’ve never seen her glow.”

 

“Well…” Lance blushed, “I can just tell okay?!”

 

“It’s because,” Shiro teased polishing his dagger, “Lance stares at Allura all day.”

 

“I do not!” Lance protested his face turning into the same shade of a tomato, “That’s like saying all you do is stare at Matt’s ass all day.”

 

“Bold of you to assume I don’t,” Shiro smiled winking at Lance.

 

Now it was Matt’s turn to blush. “Shiro!” he waved his arms, “Don’t say those kinds of things like that!”

 

Allura laughed placing a hand on Lance’s shoulder, “C’mon, they’re just teasing you.” 

 

“But don’t you think that’s a little too far?” Lance protested, “I feel like a creep now.”

 

Allura smiled, tilting her head to the side, “So you  _ do  _ stare at me all day.” She teased.

 

Lance looked away from Allura as he mumbled, “Only because you’re beautiful.”

 

She blushed as she too looked away from Lance, her heart beating rapidly.

 

Allura tells the group of vampires all listening attentively to her story that was the moment she realized she liked Lance, and soon after that they started dating. 

 

Even when they first started dating, everybody has assumed they’d eventually get married. Allura’s father started calling Lance son, and Lance’s grandma began to show all of the family heirlooms she’ll inherit when she’s older. 

 

Lance had begged his family to stop, thinking she would feel uncomfortable, but in reality, Allura didn’t mind, in fact, she loved it. As a fifteen-year-old girl, Lance was her whole world, and she truly believed that she’d spend the rest of her life with him. 

 

And that belief became a reality when five years later, Lance dropped to his knees and asked her the question she’s been dreaming of since she was a teenager. And everybody celebrated. Their families had thrown an engagement party and during the party outside and away from everybody, the two of them kissed under the moonlight promising each other the world and making plans for their bright future. 

 

Little did they know everything was going to fall apart. 

 

Word had gone around that there was a big vampire clan active in the city they were by. AFter sending scouts to confirm, they had been able to collect enough evidence of proof of a clan and their whereabouts. The entire group began to prepare for a raid, taking their best hunters, stashing their best weapons and training to kill every undead that resided in the camp. 

 

That night while the two were packing, Allura took Lance’s hand and told him she loved him. 

 

Lance looked at her with a confused expression, “You’re saying it as if one of us might not make it out.” 

 

“We don’t know,” Allura replied, “This is a dangerous mission and anything can--”

 

“Don’t say that,” Lance sadly smiled, cupping his fiance’s face, “Everything’s going to be fine.”

 

“But--

 

“No buts,” Lance interrupted, “We’re going to kick ass tonight. Like we always do okay?”

 

After that, the conversation dropped. 

 

Like all raids, Allura led the way focusing on her senses to tell her the location of the camp. Lance was to her right, a hood covering his face and a weapon ready to attack in case any vampire tried ‘something funny.’ 

 

She led them to a clearing with various makeshift tents that were completely dark, aside from a few lanterns. She paused and closed her eyes. Every hair on her skin was up and her entire body was trembling from the number of vampires all in one area, She’s never felt this many around her before. 

 

Lance stepped forward, “Is this it?”

 

Allura nodded, “Everybody in those tents are vampires.” 

 

Matt stepped forward, pulling up his hood as he brought out a box of matches, “Perfect, we set fire to the camp and those who escape, will be slaughtered.”

 

Matt ran to the nearest tent and lit a match before throwing it at the tent. The cloth immediately caught fire. Matt quickly bounced between tents setting fire to as many as he can before anybody noticed. And then, a crowd of people began running out of their tents, screaming and demanding answers. It was their time. 

 

Lance had immediately jumped into action, gliding into the crowd of confused vampires. 

 

Allura followed, taking out her whip and jumping into the battle. In the middle of the battle, something caught her eye. 

 

A single vampire in the midst of the ruckus making an attempt to escape. He was attractive, with long white hair and tan skin. Allura immediately took action.  _ No survivors _ . 

 

Allura charged at him and threw her whip hoping to hurt him when the silver whip hit him--

 

The vampire turned around and grabbed the whip shocking Allura. He grinned as he pulled on the whip bringing her closer to him. 

 

“So you have the guts to fight against me?” he chuckled darkly, “That is a grave mistake, my dear.”

 

Allura pulled on her whip, struggling to break away from him, “Let go you monster!”

 

The man lifted an eyebrow, “ _ I’m _ the monster? Ask yourself this: who is the one currently slaughtering dozens of innocent people.”

 

Allura froze, “Innocent...people…?”

 

“Yes,” the man released the whip sending Allura backward making her fall onto the ground, “ _ You  _ are the monsters. And you’re all going to pay for it. Starting with you.”

 

Allura stood up and got ready to attack him again, but before she could move hands grabbed her from behind.    
  


“Let me go!” she yelled kicking the person who had captured her. 

 

“Oh how cute, the human wants us to let her go Zethrid,” a girl chuckled. Allura whipped her head and faced a petite girl with dyed ends, “What should we do boss?”

 

The man smiled his fangs showing, “Knock her out Ezor.”

 

“No!” Allura screamed, “Lance! Lance! Come and get me please!” 

 

Ezor smiled as she inched closer to Allura and smiled, “How cute, you think your knight in shining armor is going to save you?” 

The girl covered Allura’s eyes with her hand and brought a rag to her nose. Allura held her breath trying to avoid the smell that she would knock her out but she could only hold for so long. She wasn’t sure what knocked her out first, her lack of air or the breath she finally took and inhaled the drug. All she knew was that darkness had consumed her. 

 

When Allura had awakened she was in the middle of the woods. Her clothes were wrinkly and she could feel that her was knotted, with leaves and twigs randomly sticking out. Nobody was around, but something felt terribly wrong. Everything felt like she was in a 4D movie, her senses amplified by a thousand.

 

Allura stood up and immediately fell down again, too weak to even hold herself up. And then, it suddenly hit her why everything felt wrong. She was alone, but she was sensing a vampire was nearby. It was the strongest sense of a vampire she’s ever felt, as if a vampire was within her...and then she realized. 

 

“Lotor had turned me into a vampire and had left me for dead in the woods,” Allura tells them her fingers curling around the glass, “That was...the worst day of my life.”

 

Allura then explains how she spent her time in the woods, lost, wandering around and sucking the blood of wild squirrels dry until one day, they found her. Since her disappearance, the vampire hunters, led by Lance had formed search parties searching for her in the hopes that she was alive. 

 

It was Lance who found her, alone and scared, shivering against a log with tears in her eyes. Lance, dropped everything and raced towards her, grateful that she was alive. 

 

“Oh thank god,” Lance said kissing her forehead, “Everybody was beginning to give up. They told me to stop searching, but I knew you were alive.  _ Thank god _ .”

 

The smell of iron was overwhelming and Allura’s breath hitched as she thought about how hungry she was, how she needed human blood to live and how this was the first human contact she’s had in days. It was tempting. All she needed to do was move her head to the crook of Lance’s neck and--

 

“No!” Allura yelled pushing Lance away. 

 

“Allura?” Lance asked, confusion written across his face. 

 

“No,” Allura repeated, “You shouldn’t be here.”

 

“Why?” Lance begged, cupping her face, “What’s wrong?”

 

“Lance,” she began to tear up, “Don’t you see what’s wrong with me?”

Lance’s eyes met Allura’s and they showed the fear he was feeling. He shifted his eyes to her hair and his eyes widened as he reached out and tugged at her white hair. Lance’s hands ran down Allura’s arm and rested on her wrist searching for a pulse, but she knew there was none. Lance bit his lip as his eyes met Allura’s once again, this time beginning to tear up.

 

“They got me, Lance,” she said baring her fangs, “I’m one of those monsters.”

 

“No,” Lance cried out, “Tell me this is some sort of joke Allura. Please. You’re not a vampire, there’s no way--

 

“But I am!” Allura screamed, “I am one of them and there is nothing that can be done.” She stepped away burying her head in her hands, “You should just kill me.”

 

“No,” Lance said, “I won’t.”

 

“But--   
  


“No,” Lance said taking Allura’s hand, “I refuse to kill my fiance.”

 

She looked down at his hand, tears beginning to trickle down her face, “But we can’t be together.”

 

“Allura--

 

“It’s not going to work out, If you won’t leave, then I’ll go,” Allura said.

 

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds. Allura can tell Lance was conflicted, unsure of what to do. Finally, he cupped Allura’s face, “I won’t stop loving you, don’t forget that okay? I’ll always love you Allura. So live. Please for the love of god, I refuse to let you die.”

 

Allura rested her hand on Lance’s and smiled sadly, “I will. I love you.”

 

She pecked him on the lips and turned around, avoiding Lance’s face. She knew if she looked at Lance’s face, she won’t be able to leave. 

 

“I love you.”

 

Allura took a deep breath and began to run. 

 

“And I kept running,” Allura says, resting her glass on the table, “I don’t know for how long I ran but eventually I reached a city, and Coran took me in. The original shelter was in a shabby run-down house in some sector of a deteriorating city, and with a lot of hard work, the shelter is what it is today.”

Keith smiles, placing a comforting hand on Allura, “You’ve done an amazing job. Thank you for everything you’ve done.”

 

She shakes her head resting her hand on top of Keith’s, “No, thank you, Keith. Not a day has passed without me thinking about Lance. So tell me: how is he?”

 

“He quit vampire slaying,” Keith replies, “I don’t know when, but it was sometime between the two of you separating and the two of us meeting. He now works at a coffee shop. He was happy when he took me in, he was always so eager to solve my problems. He always wanted me to be comfortable and did everything he could to make sure I was safe and happy.”

 

Allura giggles, “Sounds just like him. He’ll do anything for anybody he loves.”

 

Keith smiles back, “He’s kind of an idiot though, taking in a complete stranger knowing full well they’re a blood-sucking vampire is something only he would do.”

 

“And yet, you never harmed him,” Allura counters, “He’s an expert in seeing the good in one. Even blood-sucking vampires.” she winks. 

 

Keith frowns, thinking back to when he had last seen Lance. He had done exactly what Lance was afraid. Freaked out when he figured out the truth and abruptly left him. 

 

“I did though,” Keith admits, “I did hurt him. He was afraid I’ll leave if I found he was a former vampire slayer and I went and did  _ exactly _ he was afraid of.”

 

Allura rests a hand on Keith’s shoulder and turns to Romelle. Romelle nods as she stands up and yawns.

 

“Well, I think we should all take it as our cue to leave,” Romelle says as she heads out the door, the others following her. Once everybody has left and they’re the only two left Allura stands up as well. 

 

“Follow me,” Allura says tilting her head to the back of the lounge. 

 

Keith follows her and she opens the doors which leads to a beautiful balcony that looks over the city below. The two step out leaning over the railing and admiring the view. It’s a windy day and Keith enjoys the cool air that hits his face. He smiles. 

 

“Hey,” Keith says, “This isn’t--

 

“Our main headquarters is a city over from where you are from,” Allura says, gesturing to the city, “A whole new city, with new possibilities and beginnings. What are you going to do Keith?”

 

Keith grips the railing as he looks out into the horizon. Somewhere out there is Lance, alone and heartbroken after what Keith had just done. If he went back, will Lance forgive him? Or would he have already moved on? If he stays, what will he do? Mope around for the rest of his life? Work? 

 

“What do you guys even do for the vampires you take in?”

 

Allura shrugs, “Normally we get them integrated back into society and help them pass for a human.”

 

“Do I have to do that?”

 

Allura smiles at him, her blue eyes sparkling, “You’re free to do whatever you’d like. It’s your choice. We will take care of you for as long as you want us to. And if you don’t want to be with us… I’m fine with that as well. You’re free Keith.”

 

Keith looks down at his feet, “I want to see the city, is it nice?”

 

“The nicest,” Allura says, “The best city for a vampire to live with humans.”

 

His mind returns to Lance. Sure, he’s hurt, but he’ll be okay. Keith needs to figure out somethings first and this isn’t the first time a vampire he loved has left him. Soon enough, their relationship will be nothing but a memory. And Keith is fine with that. He’s sure Lance will be too. There are goals he wants to meet and things he wants to do and after a long time of getting side-tracked, he might finally be able to go back to what he always wanted. Before Lotor turned him and fucked him over. Before Lance offered his hand to Keith and promised to protect him. How could he pass up on that opportunity?

 

“Is there… an art school I can go to?” Keith asks. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow my [tumblr](https://rosiekeith.tumblr.com) or updates!
> 
> Thanks for reading, comments are always appreciated! <3


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, it's the final chapter finally, I hope you enjoy it~

_ The art gallery is beautiful _ , Keith thinks to himself. In the university’s main hall there is an art exhibition of the finest art done by students currently attending the school. All of them are the professors’ personal picks. There are beautiful sculptures, extravagant paintings and best of all, thousands of spectators admiring the art. 

 

Keith stands in front of a big canvas painting done in acrylics. It’s a painting of a young man leaning against a bed, blood running down his eyes as he clings desperately to the covers of the bed. Next to it, is a painting of a swan on a lake and her ducklings following close behind. The lake, however, is going through all the seasons. On the other side is a painting of two men in an embrace, their connected bodies forming the shape of a heart. 

 

An elderly man looks at the paintings in amazement and turns to Keith, “This artist is gifted.”

 

Keith smiles looking up at them, “I know.”

 

“I heard that the swan one is being sold for half a million.”

 

“So it is,” Keith replies putting his hands in his pocket. He knows that the paintings are being sold at an auction but he didn’t know that the lucky artist will be taking that large amount of money after the showcase is over. 

 

“Are the others just as pricey?” the man asks, “The one with the crying boy speaks to me for some reason.” 

 

Keith shrugs, “I don’t know the bidding.”

 

“Do you know if the artist is here? I would like to tell him how much I love his works.”

 

Keith places a hand on the man’s shoulders and smiles down at him, “You just did.”

 

The man turns to Keith his mouth agape from the revelation that he’d been talking to the artist the entire time. He holds out his hand, “Thank you for all your hard work. You are clearly one gifted individual.”

 

Keith takes the hand and grins proudly, “Thank you.”

 

-

 

There’s a knock on the door and Keith promptly opens it. Allura stands there, her beautiful white hair tied up into a bun and wearing a cute romper as she greets Keith.

 

“Hello Keith, I hope everything is alright with you,” Allura says.

 

Keith smiles, “Hey Allura, what brings you here today?”

 

“Sorry to disturb, I know you prefer to be left alone but we had recently found somebody I think you’d like to meet.”

 

Keith raises an eyebrow, “Who?’ 

 

Allura steps aside to allow whoever she came with to step forward and reveal themselves to Keith. When they step into the light, Keith gasps. 

 

Standing before him is somebody who he thought he’d never see again. It’s been over five years since he last saw them but they look more or less the same.

 

“Axca,” Keith says under his breath. 

 

Her hair is shorter than what he remembers and is now dyed purple and she is wearing barrettes in her hair to make one side higher than the other. She looks healthier, plumber and her once pale face is now rosy. 

 

“Keith,” Axca says.

 

Keith steps forward and hugs her. He hadn't realized how much he has missed her since she escaped that night. So much has happened that he just assumed she was out there somewhere surviving and thriving. 

 

When they pull apart she looks up at Keith, her violet eyes sparkling before she runs a hand through Keith’s hair, “Your hair…” she says. 

 

“What about it?” Keith asks.

 

“You dyed it black and it’s longer. I like it.” 

 

Keith looks at his hair and frowns. He hasn’t even noticed that it’s grown. He thought he’d been trimming it back to its original length every month or so but that doesn’t seem to be the case. It must’ve grown a lot recently, or he’s just really bad at cutting hair. 

 

“It’s good to see you again,” Keith diverts his attention back to his old friend.

 

“Same here, so it looks like you did find your freedom,” Axca says as she walks around Keith’s apartment. She pauses in front of one of his paintings and turns back to Keith. “I’ve always known you’d be an artist. Before you destroyed all your stuff, you made beautiful paintings.” She runs a hand along the wooden frame of the canvas, lost in thought. “They were sorrowful, dark and dreary but still beautiful. And now look at them, they’re colorful, rich, and exotic.”

“Thank you,” Keith says. 

 

Allura giggles from behind Keith and he turns around to find her smiling proudly, “I’m glad to have been able to reunite the two of you. Axca has been with us for longer than you Keith, but she is often traveling. Whenever she was around she talked about you and at first, I didn’t know but when I finally connected the dots, I figured the two of you would like to see each other again.”

 

“She was... The only person in the clan I liked. She treated me like a normal person and if it weren’t for her… I wouldn’t be here today,” Keith smiles, “Thank you Allura for bringing her.”

 

Allura nods, “No problem, but that’s not the only reason why I brought her here today. Axca?”

 

“Would you like to go out for coffee and catch up? There’s a nice coffee shop in the city I currently reside in and I would love to take you there and talk to you. Would you like to come? Allura is coming as well, she wants to visit the city again.”

 

“I haven’t been there in a while so I thought it would be nice to go back. How about it, Keith?” Allura asks. 

 

“Sure,” Keith responds already grabbing his wallet and keys and shoving them inside his pocket, “Let’s go.” 

 

They take the train to get to the city and Keith realizes they’re heading to the former city he lived in when Axca gives him his ticket with the name of the train station written at the top.    
  


Keith blinks and immediately is taken back to his last night there, how he went to the library to print out his tickets. He was so close to freedom but then he had to be taken in by Lotor’s clan. 

 

On the train ride there, while Allura and Axca talk about whatever, Keith wonders how different his life could be right now. What of he did make it on to that train? Where would he be? Would he be settled down in a city and living his best life as happy as he is now? Or would he still be running from vampire hunters? Would he even be alive now, or is he--

 

Keith doesn’t dwell on that last question. Things worked out the way they should’ve and now he’s here, with a degree in the arts from the city’s university, living in a nice apartment with a nice art studio where he can work on his project and is earning a steady income with the art he sells. He couldn’t ask for anything more. Well there is one thing he wants…

 

The train stops and the three of them head out and journey down the streets of the city. Keith is hit with a wave of nostalgia, he hasn’t set foot in the city in four years and not a single thing has changed. He still recognizes every alley, every back corner and every street like the back of his hand. 

Which is why when they stop in front of the coffee shop they’re going to eat at, Keith’s heart stops. They’ve passed by several other shops on their way, there are over a dozen in the city and out of all the coffee shops they have to go to, they have to go to the one Lance works at. 

 

It looks the same as ever like nothing has changed since he last saw it. The bonsai tree in the sill is bigger, and it now has bamboos as it’s neighbors. The chalkboard with the menu has been replaced with a screen that shows the entire menu and makes the place feel more modern but still cozy. Aside from that, everything is the same. The tables are in the same spots, the chairs are still squeaky. The fireplace and the stonewall with mugs available for sale is still there. The more things change, the more they remain the same. 

 

Keith darts his eyes towards the cash register and is relieved to find that Lance is not there. But then it occurs to him: why would Lance still work here four years later? He’s got to have a better job by now. Does he even still live in this city? Compared to the city Keith currently resides in, this one is a dumpster fire. Not to mention that this city is crawling with vampire and hunter activity. 

 

“It’s no longer like that,” Allura says putting a comforting hand on Keith’s shoulder, “All the hunters and vampires have moved on to the south of the country.”

 

Keith blinks at her slightly surprised, “How did you…?”

 

“Cause I thought the same thing,” Allura responds. “I looked into it and the last vampire activity here was over a year ago. You’re safe.”

 

Keith nods before turning back to the menu. Since he joined the organization, Allura and the others have taught how to pass as a normal human. One of the lessons included eating normal food in public.

 

Before he joined the organization, Keith could only stomach bacon and any meat cooked medium rare. The rest made him want to throw up. It turns out a vampire can eat anything if they drink coffee with it. While coffee tasted like nothing to vampires, caffeine actually helped neutralize their stomachs allowing them to eat anything they please without throwing up.    
  


Keith orders a black coffee, Axca orders some macchiato with a cute design of a leaf on top and Allura orders some frappuccino that looks pink and probably tastes as fruity and sweet as it looks. The three of them head out to the tables outside of the shop and look out into the street and talk. 

 

Keith tells the girls about college and the success of a recent exhibition where he earned almost 2 million dollars from auctioning his pieces. Axca tells Allura and Keith about her travels, providing pictures and eagerly telling funny stories from her visits.

 

“So he took me by the arm and asked if I was lost and I said, ‘I have a GPS on my phone, but thanks anyways!’ He was really insistent on helping me around despite the fact that I told him I was fine and didn’t need any help. He got so annoying I had to make a run for it to lose him before he started trying anything funny.”

 

“Men,” Allura sighs, “They never leave us women alone.”

 

Keith hadn’t really been paying attention the entire time, he’s just been absent-mindedly fiddling with his styrofoam cup and staring off into space. But as Axca finishes her story, Keith is completely out of it focusing on something that has caught his attention. Somebody across the street was walking by and he looked familiar. Keith’s eyes widened and continued to stare hoping to confirm what his mind immediately told him who it was.

 

He thought he’d seen…

 

“Keith?” Axca asks, “Are you alright?”

 

Keith blinks, drifting back to reality and turns to Axca. “What?” he asks. 

 

“Are you okay? You looked out of it for a moment there.”

 

“Oh,” Keith turns back to the street to find the person he thought he’d seen is no longer there, “It’s nothing.” 

 

“Hey, Keith the city recently opened a really nice arts and crafts store that is said to have the best supplies at cheap prices. Axca and I were just talking about going to the boutique right next door while you shop there. How about it?” Allura asks, blue eyes pleading Keith. 

 

He can’t really resist Allura when she gets all sparkly eyed. There’s something about that look that makes him want to give in. Hell, if she asked him to burn down the city with that look, he’d do it just to have her satisfied. Axca, on the other hand, has her arms crossed as she looks out into the street, but she too has a small smile on her face thinking about shopping. 

 

_ Women _ , Keith rolls his eyes as he stands up to throw away his drink, “Let’s go.”

 

-

 

Allura is right, the arts and crafts that is  _so_ conveniently right by a boutique the girls wanted to go has great supplies for cheap prices. A normal pound of clay that he gets in his neighborhood costs almost three times the price than it is at the store. Keith is probably out of his mind for spending almost a thousand dollars on supplies, but hey, the deals are worth it. He orders for all of them to be shipped to his apartment and the only thing Keith walks out with is a bag with a sketchbook and some colored pencils he’d like to start using on the train ride back to his city. As he walks out of the store, this random guy walking down the street doesn’t watch where he’s going and the two collide causing the guy to get himself tangled in Keith’s bag and the two to fall unceremoniously onto the pavement. 

 

The two groan in pain as they land and immediately sit up. Keith rubs his head as he grabs his torn bag from the stranger and sighs in relief when he finds everything is still intact. 

 

“Hey,” a familiar voice says, “Are you alright?”

 

Keith freezes and whips his head towards the direction of the voice and lo and behold, somebody he hasn’t seen in years is there. 

 

“Lance?” Keith asks his eyes widening. 

 

The man mirrors Keith’s expression and he gasps, “Keith…?”

 

“Lance!” Keith repeats as he stands up and wipes off the dirt on his pants, “You’re here!”

 

Lance is still on the ground frozen from shock and staring up at Keith as if he’d just seen a ghost. Suddenly, he snaps out of it and stands up, “Keith! W-what are you doing here?!”

 

Lance looks like he hasn’t aged a day. He has the same haircut, he still has beautiful brown skin and enticing blue eyes. And he is still handsome. How unfair that even after all these years, he still manages to make Keith blush just by existing. Keith shuffles his feet and looks away from Lance. “I’m…”

 

“Keith!” Allura calls out as she steps out of the boutique, Axca trailing behind, “There you are--” she freezes when she sees Lance. 

 

Lance’s eyes bulge out of his skull when he sees Allura. The two stare at each other for what seems like forever when suddenly the two run into each other’s arms and hug. 

 

“Lance!” Allura cries out, tears running down her face. 

 

“Allura!” Lance calls out hugging his ex-fiance, “ _ Dios mio _ , it’s you!”

 

The two-part and they start laughing and start talking. The two look really happy, and it’s obvious that they still have feelings for each other. Keith shifts eyes away from the reunited couple and decides to return to Axca’s side.    
  


“Who is he?” Axca asks, “How do you guys know him?”

 

“He’s her ex-fiance,” Keith explains.

“And what was he to you?” Axca asks.

 

Keith frowns. They never really had a label on their relationship. They only knew each other for a year and their romantic relationship lasted shorter. Allura and Lance have known each other for years, hell, they were  _ engaged _ . Keith was just a rebound and somebody Lance wanted to protect because of his guilt for failing to protect the person most important to him.

 

“A friend,” Keith replies. 

 

Axca lifts an eyebrow knowing that Keith is lying, “Really?”

 

Keith nods, “Can we go?”

 

Axca pauses looking down at Keith. Their eyes meet briefly as she tries to make sense of what Keith isn’t telling her. Then, she smiles understandably, “Sure.”

 

Keith turns away from the reunited couple without sparing them a glance. He’d rather not witness the two of them getting back together, not if he can help it. When the time is right, he’ll be happy for them. When Lance and Allura rekindle their romance and announce their engagement, Keith will say congratulations. When they exchange their vows will Keith smile and be happy for them. But not right now, he doesn’t want to see them. He doesn’t want to deal with the fact that he’s still in love with Lance even after all these years. 

 

“Keith!”

 

Keith turns around to find Allura catching up to them, waving her free arm at them. He frowns as she approaches them and rests a hand on Keith’s shoulder, “Lance wants to talk to you.”

 

Keith opens his mouth, “I-I haven’t talked to him in years. And the last time we’ve talked I--”

 

“Keith,” Allura says squeezing Keith’s shoulder, “He specifically asked about you. He wants to see you again. Lance misses you, Keith. I know he’ll be happy if you go up to him.”

 

“I don’t know…”

 

“Just go,” Axca pushes Keith, “You’re the vampire here.”

 

Keith sighs as he turns to where Lance is standing. He is looking at Keith shyly waving his hand. Keith smiles taking a deep breath. And then, he strolls up to Lance. 

 

“Hey,” Keith says as he approaches Lance. 

 

“Hey,” Lance replies. 

They awkwardly stand there for a minute not knowing what to say. Keith bites his lip as he waits for Lance to speak up. 

 

“I know, I had fucked up,” Lance finally says, “I shouldn’t have kept my past a secret, but I’m no longer a hunter. I haven’t been since Allura turned.”

 

“Did you ever love me?” Keith asks, “Or did you just feel guilty that you failed to protect your fiance and wanted a do-over?” Lance opens his mouth to speak but Keith cuts him off, “Don’t lie to me; tell the truth.”

 

Lance sighs, running a hand through his hair, “You want the truth? Fine, I’ll tell you. At first, when we first met, I did feel guilty about what happened with Allura. But,” Lance takes Keith’s hand, “over time we grew closer and you helped me get over Allura, and somewhere in between it all I fell in love with you. And my feelings for you are real. And I still love you. Every day I texted you reminding you that I loved you, and never have I stopped.”

 

“I know, I saw them.”

 

Lance smiles, “I know, you have your read receipts on. Why did you never block me?”

 

Keith shrugs, “I don’t know...I guess despite the fact I was crossed with you, I still wanted you around.”

 

“Do you…? You know, still, love me?”

 

“I...yes,” Keith admits, “I do.”

 

“I know I probably don’t deserve it but, are you willing to give me a second chance?” Lance asks.

 

“What about Allura?” Keith asks turning to where the girls are currently standing eavesdropping on their conversation. 

 

“It’s true, Allura and I have history but things are different now. We’ve moved on, and the person I want is  _ you _ ,” Lance lifts their joined hands, his blue eyes staring into Keith’s soul, “You’re the one I love.”

 

Keith looks up at Lance. Up close, he can see how Lance has aged over the years. His skin is darker, his eyes are more vibrant, and any remaining child-like features on his face has completely faded. Keith reaches out to Lance’s face and touches it. His face is warm and soft just like he remembers. 

 

“Keith…?” Lance asks softly. 

Keith presses his lips against Lance and a wave of nostalgia washes over him. He remembers the softness of Lance’s lips, the way they perfectly meld together. He remembers how red they get after only a few seconds of making out and how glossy they look after Keith obliterates Lance’s mouth. 

 

Keith pulls away making the kiss short-lived. Lance is dazed, having not expected a kiss, his blue eyes sparkling with wonder and love. That’s the Lance he loves. The one who promises to protect him and cherish him everyday of their lives. 

 

“Promise me something Lance,” Keith says, “Will you always be there for me?”

 

“For as long I am alive, I will be beside you,” Lance rests his forehead against Keith, “I promise.”

 

Keith kisses Lance for the second time that day. This one, as much as Keith would’ve liked to have it last longer ends abruptly when they hear a cough. 

 

The two men pull apart to find Allura and Axca smiling teasingly as they impatiently tap their feet on the ground. Axca has her arms crossed and Allura is pointing to the watch on her wrist. The message is clear: they have to go. 

 

Keith turns to Lance, “I have to go, I have a train to catch.”

 

“I’ll come with,” Lance says, taking Keith’s hand and intertwines their fingers, “It’s been four years since we last saw each other, I wanna how you’ve been.” 

 

“Sure, we can get you a ticket but we have to go  _ now _ .” Axca says.

 

“Okay, okay lead the way,” Lance laughs. 

 

As they walk to the train station, Lance whispers into Keith’s ear, “Is your apartment nice? Or is it just as musty as the old one?”

 

Keith smiles as he turns to Lance, “It’ll be nicer when you move into it.”

 

Lance’s eyes widen, “Whoa, how nice is this apartment of yours for you to boldly assume I’ll move in with you.”

 

“I sold a painting for half a million dollars last week Lance, how nice does it get?”

 

“You’re rich, have a nice apartment and an artist now?!” Lance squeaks, “What else are you keeping from me?”

 

“Look who’s talking Mr. I kept the fact that I killed the undead for a living from my undead boyfriend for eons. It’s been four years, there’s a lot to catch up on.” Keith squeezes Lance’s hand as he playfully bumps their shoulders, “But we’ll make it work. We always have.”

 

“Yeah,” Lance agrees. 

 

He pecks Keith on the lips when he thinks nobody is looking. Allura makes fun of Lance for it. Keith just snorts and rolls his eyes. 

 

“Leave him alone Allura,” Keith says. 

 

“Oh, I  _ know _ him, you can’t ever leave him alone or he’ll get even sneakier,” Allura shoots Lance a look, “Nothing gets past me.”

 

Lance laughs, “Okay, okay, guilty as charged.”

 

\--

“You know,” Lance states picking up one of Keith’s sculptures and examining it, “You look more..relaxed and... happier. I didn’t see it at first but now that I’m here with you, there’s no denying it. It’s like you finally found some inner peace. These past four years have been good to you.” Lance sets down the sculpture and smiles at Keith, “And that makes me happy.”

 

Keith comes up to Lance and cups his face, “And what about you? How has the time treated you?”

 

Lance smiles taking Keith’s free hand and bringing it up to his lips for a kiss, “Well, I’m a lot happier now that I’m with you.”

 

Keith laughs, “C’mon don’t be like that. I wanna know.” 

 

“Eventually, I promise. These past four years have been good to me too, that’s all I’ll say. For now,” Lance leans forward resting his forehead against Keith’s, “I just want to spend time with you. I missed you.”

 

“I missed you too,” Keith replies. 

 

Their lips meet again as Keith intertwines their fingers. Lance’s other hand takes Keith’s waist and pulls them closer. Keith’s heart skips with joy as he feels Lance smile into the kiss making Keith smile back.

 

For once, everything in Keith’s future looked bright. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! If you wanna scream over season 7 follow me on [tumblr](https://rosiekeith.tumblr.com)!  
> Thanks for reading everybody, comments are always appreciated! <3


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